Tellall
by Quill of Thoughts
Summary: Who is Quaxo? And why does Mistofelees look so much like him? Only two cats in the junkyard know, and they've decided to tell. NOT slash, and it gets better as it goes on, so don't just read the first chapter.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: My first Cats story! So, here's the story of Mistofelees and Tugger. Quick warning, Tugger might be a bit OOC, so tell me if you think he is. I'll try to keep him as close to the actual as possible. I'm using the movie as reference material, and the cats look like they do in the play. Humans just think they look like normal cats, just to let you guys know. Please read and review. And I know, this chapter's short. The next chapters will probably be longer. Please read and review. Please!**

It was a cold and dreary day…nope. It wasn't all that dreary.

It was a cold and dry day…not that either.

It was a cold day. 'Kay we'll go with that.

It was a cold day. I was prowling about the wall of the junkyard that cold day, a couple of days after the Jellicle Ball, when I caught the scent of a rat. I had been pretty hungry all day, so I decided to chase after this rat. I followed it for a few blocks and into an alleyway. I had nearly caught it, when I heard a small cough. I looked around and saw a mass of fur. A black and white mass of fur. Sniffing the air around them, I smelled the stale, metallic smell of dried blood. I carefully walked up to them and poked them with my nose. They stirred slightly, and the black mass looked up at me. Turns out, the mess of fur was two cats.

"Can you help me?" the cat asked me. He held my gaze for a moment more, yet closed his eyes and dropped his head on the white cat. Now, despite my cocky attitude, I had a soft spot for kittens. I can't stand to see them hurt or sad. Silently swearing to make whoever did this to the black cat sorry, I picked them up and started running back to the junkyard.

* * *

"Jenny! Or Jelly! Can someone help me over here?" I called as I was in the main courtyard. Jennyanydots came over to me, looking slightly tired.

"Tugger, it's late. Can't you wait to humiliate me in the morning? After I've had some sleep?" she asked me.

"I don't want to humiliate you. Now, at least. I actually have a couple of cats I need you to look at. I don't know what's wrong with them, yet at least one is bleeding badly," I told her, shoving the kits into her arms. She looked down at the black cat with a medic's eye.

"It seems to be scratches, not much else. He'll be fine. Don't worry about it. I'll get him shaped up soon enough," Jenny said.

* * *

Thus the story of how I met Misto. He'll take the story from here. He opted not to tell this part of the story, seeing as how he was unconscious during the first part of this story, and without _me, _this story would never have happened.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: So, this story has taken a darker turn than the fluff-fic I had originally planned on. The next few chapters will be pretty dark and almost angsty, yet it sets up for later chapters (I think). I'm pretty much working on a whim here, so if it's an awful story, I apologize in advance. We'll start the first morning after the previous chapter. Misto's POV for the rest of the story. Thanks to the few who reviewed. I enjoy getting reviews a lot. Advanced warning: Misto, and Tugger are somewhat strange in this story. **

*groan* Tugger always thinks he's the hero of the story… I'm taking the story from here. Me, Mistofelees, sometimes known as Quaxo. I'll start when I'm almost a year old; the morning after Tugger brought me to the junkyard.

* * *

I woke up early—before dawn, if the temperature was in indicator—and rolled over onto my back. I was in an unfamiliar den, and my sister wasn't anywhere around me. Panicking, I looked around to see where she was. I had risked my hide, asked a strange cat for help, and ended up here, all for her, and she wasn't around. As I was standing up to go look around, an orange cat with leopard spots and tiger stripes hurried out of a side room and pushed me back onto the bed.

"Sit down, sit down! I need to make sure you don't have any broken bones or anything. I didn't get a chance to earlier with having to deal with that white cat. She had some nasty bruises and sprained ankles," the cat said as she pushed me back onto the bed.

"Where is she?" I asked softly, worried about what was happening to her.

"In the room I came out of. Don't worry about her, I'll get you over there right after I've finished checking you over." The cat came over to me and started poking and prodding my legs and paws. I tried not to worry about Ria, yet it didn't work very well. A few minutes later, the cat stepped back and helped me stand up. "There you go; nothing's wrong with you. You can head back to your sister now. She's asleep, yet I'm sure that she would like you with her. And the Rum Tum Tugger will be stopping by sometime. Apparently Munkustrap wanted someone to ask you kits some questions. He probably won't come until daybreak, at least." I nodded, despite not understanding most of what she meant, and walked back to the room that she said my sister was sleeping in. Sure enough, Ria was sleeping soundly on the bed. As I walked through the doorway, she leaned towards me and held her hand out to me. She was so innocent, and looked even more so in her sleep. She didn't deserve to see those horrors at all. I walked over to the bed she was in, laid down next to her, and enjoyed losing consciousness as she nuzzled her head against my chest.

"Get up. I want to ask you some questions," a voice said, poking me hard on the chest. Groggily, I opened my eyes to see a mostly black cat with a shaggy blond mane standing over me. I pulled away from Ria, careful not to wake her up, and climbed out of the bed.

"Yes? Do you mind if I ask a few questions in return?" I asked him.

"No, yet it depends on the question. I'll ask the first one. Who are you and what's your name?"

"That's two questions," I pointed out. The cat looked sharply at me, and skrewed up his eyes, as if he was thinking hard about what I just said.

"Fine. Two questions then. You'll get to ask two questions after you've answered mine," he said. I rolled my eyes. The cats here must not think I'm such a huge threat if they sent this numbskull to interrogate me.

"My name is Mistofelees, always known as Quaxo. I'm a magician," I told him. "My questions; who are you and where am I?"

"I'm the Rum Tum Tugger, mostly known as Tugger and you are in the Jellicle Junkyard, haven to Jellicle cats everywhere." Tugger made a flamboyant bow, as if he were inviting me to the Heavyside Layer himself. "My turn again." He made an evil grin, like he was going to enjoy this. "Why do you have two names, what do you mean by 'magician' and who's that pretty kitten? And you don't get to ask another question."

"Fine," I said with a grimace. "Mistofelees is my second name, and Quaxo is my first. The…family I stayed with refused to call me by Mistofelees and always called me Quaxo. I mean magician like one would say mystic. I've heard rumors that the Jellicle Junkyard was home to two cats with special powers. I guess it's like that. And that 'pretty kitten' is my sister. Victoria. Keep your grubby paws off of her or you'll be sorrier than if you stepped on the Great Cat's tail when she was asleep."

"'Kay, 'kay. I wasn't going to anyways," Tugger raised his hands, almost like in defeat and stepped away from me. "Last question. Where did you guys come from? Two cats that smell like Jellicles aren't just going to live as strays. You had to be running from somewhere. What was it? A bad owner?" I laughed softly. Bad owners were rare with Jellicles, yet not unheard of.

"I wish it was a bad owner," I said, shaking my head.

"Then what was it?"

"Promise you won't tell whoever's in charge?"

"I guess so…"

"I've lived my entire life with Macavity," I said quickly. Tugger jumped, surprised at the name, yet quickly started to stomp out of the room. I ran in front of him and blocked the doorway.

"The one time I do something not selfish, it turns out to be that the cat is an assassin. Wonderful," he muttered. "Get out of my way. I'm going to have Munk kill you."

"No! No, just hear me out. I've lived with Macavity, I'm even his son, yet I hate him. He beats me, rapes my mother and sister and forces me to do his dirty work. My mother died a week ago, Macavity left to go personally attend to something and I took my sister and we ran away. It nearly killed us both, yet we couldn't bear to stay there any longer. Don't tell anyone though," I was begging at this point. I didn't want to get turned in, especially leaving that wretched place so soon.

"Why are you always called Quaxo then? Macavity's a Jellicle—an awful one, yet one nonetheless—and he knows how being called by something other than your Jellicle name is degrading."

"Being called Quaxo locks my powers from me. I don't know how, or why, yet it just does. When I'm called Mistofelees, which is my true Jellicle name, I can use my powers as I wish. My father figured that out and forced me to be called Quaxo by everyone. My sister always called me Mistofelees though, when we were sure that we were alone. She allowed me to hone my powers."

"Oh. I might not know much about you and about magic, yet I do know that you can't use you powers here. The cats here will be able to realize that you're somehow related to Macavity soon enough if you do, and if that happens then you'll be skinned alive and roasted. I'll keep your secret, I promise, yet you should be called Quaxo, so that you can't even be tempted to use your powers. And also, does that glitter on your coat come off at all?" I looked down at my coat. I had forgotten, when I'm refered to as Mistofelees, then I have glitter on the end of my fur, giving me an even more magical-esque appearance. When I get called Quaxo, then I'm a drab black and white cat.

"It'll go away as I'm called Quaxo," I told him. Tugger nodded and then looked back at Ria.

"I'll have Munkustrap come here and get you sorted out. I'll leave you two for now," Tugger said. I nodded and let him pass through the door. I looked over towards Ria, and noticed that she had woken up.

"He's a good cat. He won't betray us," she said. I nodded; I trusted my sister's judgment.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Next installment! Thanks to all the people adding my story to their alerts, it's really encouraging to see all the emails I'm getting because of it. So, here Mistofelees is going to meet some of the other Jellicles in the junkyard and other such things. The next chapter will probably be up soon. Here's the chapter:**

"I hope you're right 'Ria. I also hope that this Munkustrap doesn't see through Tugger's lies," I said.

"He won't, Quaxo. Don't worry about it," Ria replied. I winced slightly as my coat reverted to a more mundane variety. "I hate calling you Quaxo, yet you know I have to," she said, noticing how I winced.

"I know. When do you think that Munkustrap will get here?"

"Umm, maybe a few minutes," Ria said. I sat next to her on the bed, and she leaned her head on my shoulder. "'Xo, do you think that he'll find us here?" I sighed. I knew exactly who she was talking about, and I didn't have an answer for her.

"I don't know 'Ria. I don't know." We sat there for a few minutes, absorbed in our own thoughts, until a light grey tabby cat with darker grey stripes walked in, closely followed by Tugger. I stood up quickly, jarring Ria from her thoughts.

"You're Quaxo?" the grey tabby asked me. I nodded quickly. I could tell that this was one cat that you wouldn't want to cross. He turned to Ria . "And you're his sister?" She nodded also. "I am Munkustrap, pleased to meet you. I must say though, I thought you would be older. Just how old are you two? You both look barely a year old. Two kits can't stay out on the streets for long."

"I'm almost sixteen years old. I'll turn sixteen before December's full moon to be exact. Victoria is about thirteen years old, and she'll be fourteen by December's full moon. We were just lucky that we didn't run into any unfriendly cats on the streets, I guess," I said. Munkustrap nodded, as if he understood.

"Well, we've gathered the Jellicles that live here in the courtyard, in front of the tire. We've decided that you should probably stay with someone else until you've gotten used to the junkyard. Old Deuteronomy wants to see you also," Munkustrap said. I nodded and followed Munkustrap and Tugger out of the den and into a large courtyard surrounded by large mountains of humans' trash. Ria couldn't help but gawk at how tall the piles of junk were. I laughed, and was rewarded with a soft slap from Ria. Munkustrap guided us up to the front of the small crowd and onto the tire. An old, graying cat stood up and helped to the front of the tire. I breathed deep the cat's scent; he smelled safe.

"Jellicle cats. We have the pleasure of greeting two more cats into our midst. They were runaways from an abusive household and the Rum Tum Tugger managed to bring them here. Is anyone willing to take in the tom and help him learn about our ways of life? The queen-kit will stay with the other kits her age," the cat said after the crowd had settled down. I stiffened as if an electric shock had coursed through my body. I should know the effects of lightning on cats' bodies from my father, and it was exactly like that. They actually wanted to separate me from my sister.

"No. Please don't separate us. Please," I asked the graying cat. Munkustrap pulled me back.

"That's just how it is, Quaxo. You'll see her all the time, yet just not at night," he whispered in my ear.

"No. She gets nightmares. Horrible awful ones. She needs me, Munkustrap," I said.

"We'll see how it works out. If it doesn't work, then you both can live with me at my den. I promise," Munkustrap replied. I nodded.

"Is no one going to help this poor cat? Shame on you who have room yet are unwilling to," the graying cat said.

"Old Deuteronomy, I would be willing to give this cat a place to stay," a white cat with black spots said. "I have room, and I don't even have a queenfriend around right now. I'm sure it'll be a fine place to crash."

"Thank you Alonzo. That is all," Old Deuteronomy said. He turned from the crowd and started walking down some makeshift stairs with Munkustrap helping. Deuteronomy turned to look at me, and Tugger. "Tugger, I want you to show Quaxo around today. Alonzo needs to get his den cleaned up and presentable. Tomorrow he can take over for you." Tugger looked slightly irked, yet nodded and started leading me in the opposite direction from Deuteronomy.

"Here's the kits' den. They hang out here for the most part," Tugger said as we passed a large den with lots of kits tumbling around it. He pointed west. "Most of the dens are past there. There's not much else to show you…and look who decided to visit!" A scarlet queen with black stripes along her side walked up to Tugger.

"You forgot our date, Rum! You promised you would be there this time! You better not have been with another queen!" the cat said.

"I swear upon my honor that I was not with another queen. I was just taking a walk around town, and then I came upon this tom and his sister. Bomba, I would never do that to you," Tugger said.

"You have no honor, Rum. And you said that the last three times, and look at how that turned out," she replied. Obviously these two had a history, full of romance, betrayals, make-ups, and—dare I say it?—sex. I almost turned to leave and find Alonzo, when the queen—Bomba?—turned to me.

"Hello. I haven't had a chance to introduce myself. I'm Bombalurina, Demeter's sister. Demeter's the gold queen with black stripes and who is mated to Munkustrap. Rum here stood me up this morning, so I'm just berating him for a bit," Bombalurina said. I nodded, grinning, and decided to let Tugger face Bombalurina's wrath alone.

"I really wish she would stop seeing him," a gold and black queen sighed. I guessed that this was Demeter. "You must be the new cat, Quaxo. I'm Demeter. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Thank you. I must say though, the pleasure is all mine. I didn't expect there to be so many Jellicles here," I replied.

"Yeah. There are others though, who only come for the Ball."

"Ball?" I asked. I had heard of the Jellicle Ball, yet had never really thought it could happen. I had seen the result of when more than six cats get together, and it's never pretty.

"Yes. Every year, when the Jellicle Moon is shining, we have a ball to catch up with each other and to see who gets to go to the Heavyside Layer that year. You _can _sing and dance, right?"

"Yeah. I never really got a chance to though at my old home," I said.

"You can sing and dance here as much as you want. In fact, you probably would rarely ever be alone in it."

"Wow." Demeter nodded in agreement.

"You probably should get back to Tugger. Bombalurina's done for now with him," Demeter said. I looked over at Tugger, said bye to Demeter and walked over to him.

"Let's go walk along the wall. Less queens out for my hide. Truth be told, I was with another queen, Cassandra. She is _fine_," Tugger said, emphasizing "fine". I'd really like to know how anyone in this tribe could stand him for more than a couple of minutes.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Never expect to have updates so soon again. Ever. I've had a slow school week, so I've been able to write a lot. This chapter will probably be the closest to a song-fic this story will have, until we get to the time of the musical. Just to let you guys know, you'll never find the song that Misto sings in this chapter unless you get onto a site called Note Flight and search "Water Song". It's a pretty amazing song, especially considering its using MIDI instruments. I highly recommend looking it up. More Victoria, more classic Tugger, and some completely original cat tribes. The person who guesses what the names of the other tribes are based on will be mentioned in the next chapter's author note. Next chapter, here you are.**

"You know, Misto, I've noticed something about you," Tugger said as we walked along the junkyard wall.

I looked over at him. "What did you just call me?"

Tugger shrugged. "Misto. It's shorter than Mistofelees and Quaxo doesn't fit you at all."

"Oh. What was it that you noticed about me?" I asked him.

"You have a very distinct personality. I've never seen a cat like you, and I'm sure that any other cat would say that they could remember you for a while. How good are you at acting?" Tugger looked at me expectantly.

"Fair, I think. I just don't see why you're so worried about. I doubt he's going to come look for us," I said.

"No. We said that with another cat. It nearly killed us. It did kill off two of the other tribes," Tugger said.

"Right, the Aussicles and Colonicles."

"Yes. And when he hears of a cat like you, his son, he'll come running and destroy us," Tugger said, uncharacteristically serious. "And then what will happen to the hot cats?" Tugger could never be serious for more than a few seconds, I decided.

"Oh the horror, you'll have to live with Macavity's queens who are trained assassins. Whatever would you do?" I said, laying the sarcasm on thick.

"Ha, ha. So, will you think about that?"

"Yeah. I'll try to be a more generic cat. I don't know if it'll work though."

"Thanks," Tugger said. "Now that that's sorted out, I'm going to go apologize for also standing Exotica up this morning too."

"Wait a second, just how many queenfriends do you have?" I asked him. Tugger stopped walking, thought hard and turned to answer.

"One on and off again, a few teases and only one really steady one. Over all, probably almost every queen has been involved with me in the past few years," he replied, counting on his paws.

"Wow. If you did that with one of Macavity's queens, you'd probably have been killed. Violently too."

"Can we quit with talking about Macavity?" Tugger said, his mane puffing slightly.

"Sorry. I've never really had much to talk about other than him." I looked down. I knew it would be hard for me to adjust to this new life, yet I didn't expect that I would have such a hard time with it.

"It's fine. I'll start out with something different. Are you gay?" I stopped. Okay, not only was Tugger never serious, he was also completely random.

"I'm straight, why?"

"I'm thinking about hooking you up with someone. Nothing major," Tugger said, shrugging like I wouldn't mind much.

"No," I said, "Why would I want that?"

"Now, now, is that Misto or Quaxo talking here? If it's Misto, then I'll be forced to get you with someone. If it's Quaxo, then I'll still do it," Tugger replied smoothly.

"I don't want a queenfriend. I never have and I doubt I will for a while. It'll be hard enough for me to get used to Jellicle life without having a queenfriend to worry about," I shook my head. "I'm going to go talk to Victoria. I'm getting annoyed with you."

"Fine, just act a little less like yourself. Act more like Quaxo," Tugger said. I wrinkled my nose in distaste and walked off.

"Hey 'Xo. How's Tugger treating you?" Ria asked me when I walked over.

"Just fine. I wanted to come over and see how you were doing though," I told her. She snuggled up close to me, giving me a tight squeeze.

"I'm doing great. Everyone here is so much nicer here than at our old home," she pulled away from me and dragged a queen-kit over. The kit looked slightly like Demeter and Bombalurina, yet she had some grey streaks in her fur, almost the exact color of Munkustrap's. "This is Jemima. She's Demeter's and Munkustrap's daughter. She's been introducing me to everyone." Jemima smiled sweetly at me.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Jemima. I'm glad my sister has someone to watch out for her," I told the kit.

"You're welcome. Victoria's just so nice, I couldn't help but to show her around. She'll have no problem getting use to life here," Jemima said, in a clear voice. Ria smiled at Jemima, and waved bye to me before running off to play with her friends. As I saw her so at peace with her other friends, I decided that she would be perfectly fine without me. Now what was I supposed to do with my time?

"Quaxo! Mind coming over for a few minutes?" Munkustrap called from the other side of the courtyard. I walked over to him, worrying that he somehow had figured out my past. Or worse, Tugger had told him about my father. "It's nothing major," Munkustrap said, looking at the look on my face. "I just wanted to make sure you had the Jellicle spirit. Meaning, you can sing." I nodded. I had heard several cats singing. The Jellicles seemed to switch between talking and singing seamlessly.

"Oh," I had to think of something. There was one song I hear a while ago from a river cat. It stayed with me, even though I had heard it years ago.

_When I'm down on my luck, _

_I try not to frown I don't give up. _

_I throw out a line into the river._

_I never trust what isn't on my hook. _

'_Cause I've got a friend who taught me a thing or two about the water. _

_He showed me when to care and when not to bother. _

_I always know what side of thing's he on. _

_Whoa ooh whoa ooh. _

_Oh oh oh oh oh. _

_When I dream of the ocean, _

_I start to reel with emotion. _

_I'm on a boat and _

_I let the waves wash over me _

_And do just as they please. _

'_Cause I've got a friend who taught me a thing or two about the water. _

_He showed me when to care and when not to bother. _

_I always know what side of thing's he on. _

_Whoa ooh whoa ooh_

_Oh…_

I trailed off. I noticed that several of the other Jellicles had wandered over to where I was standing.

"I guess we found a new caller," a black and white tom—Alonzo—said softly. I looked around, realizing that if this ever got out—the fact that I could sing well—then Macavity would probably come running. I didn't know how many times I had been punished because I was singing. I fought instincts and planted my feet, forcing myself not to bring more attention to myself. "You know, Munkustrap, ever since the last caller passed into the Heavyside Layer last year, we've been scrambling to find a new one that can pull it off." Munkustrap nodded and looked over at me, like he was trying to see someone else in me.

"I'll talk to Old Deuteronomy. I'm sure he'll approve. And Alonzo, why don't you get Quaxo settled in," Munkustrap said as he walked off towards his den as Alonzo shuttled me off towards his den.

"We have no clue where you learned to sing like that, yet you'll most definitely have a place here," Alonzo said as we walked over to his den. I nodded, still praying to the Great Cat that Macavity won't hear of my singing.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry I haven't posted anything lately. Our computer died, and so I couldn't get on. I've decided to change some things about this story. I'm going to use human ages. And a bit of cat aging. It's confusing, yet it makes my head hurt to try and use months instead of human years. So, I'll post the complete list of cat ages onto my profile, if you're curious at their ages. To make up for the lack of posting in the last few weeks, I'll try to get the chapter after this posted today. I have the next three or four chapters written up, it's just a matter of typing it up and proofreading. I don't own Cats, blah, blah, blah. I figure I should put in a disclaimer at some point. Read, review, please. I live off the reviews, it's the only way I can tell that someone's reading it. Also, thanks to all the people who have favorite this story or put it on their alert list. It's been cool seeing all the emails from it. **

"You can sleep over there on the bed. I'll get a new bed put together sometime for you," Alonzo told me. I nodded. It had been a long day, full of confusing turns and introductions. And Tugger.

"Thanks for helping me out, Alonzo," I said. Alonzo nodded, curled up and fell asleep in the corner. I watched him for a few minutes and fell asleep on the bed.

I woke up late that night, past midnight. Ria was coming to find me. I heard a soft knock on the ground, and the white form of Ria walked in silently, a skill we had to perfect when we were living with Macavity.

"'Xo? Can I sleep in here with you?" Ria asked me quietly, laying a paw on my shoulder. I looked up into her pale face and nodded. She sat down beside me and squeezed me tight. "I didn't know if you would want me around. After all, I was barely around you today."

"Do I ever not want you around? You were making friends. What's wrong though? Another nightmare?" I asked her. Her nightmares had been growing worse over the past few nights.

"Yeah. And it was the worst one yet. Do you have any idea why this happens?" Ria asked me, her face looking so innocent, and just wanting answers. It took all my will to deny her and lie.

"I don't know 'Ria. I'm here now, go back to sleep," I told her softly. I felt her shake her head.

"I don't want to. I don't want to see Mac—_him_. He'll do something awful, I know it," Ria said. I pulled her closer to me.

"He can't hurt you, Victoria. I won't let him." Ria nodded weakly, and closed her eyes to go to sleep. I laid there long afterwards, wondering what was going through Ria's mind, before falling asleep myself.

"Quaxo, do you mind telling me why I wake up to find you curled up next to that new queen-kit? If I can't have a queen over while you're here, then you can't," Alonzo said. Apparently no one here would respect someone whose asleep and leave them sleeping. I sat up and looked over at Alonzo. I had fallen asleep maybe an hour beforehand and I still could do with at least another hour.

"Victoria is here because she had a nightmare and wanted to be with her brother. Me. Now, can I get back to sleep?" I asked him.

"Oh. I didn't realize you were siblings. No, you can't go back to sleep because the Twins want to see you. They're just outside," Alonzo told me. Sighing, I nodded and stood up.

Outside the den were two black and white cats. They both were nearly exactly the same, except for the fact that one was a queen, and the other was a tom. Their lithe forms stood up and walked over to me as I waited outside the den door.

"Quaxo?" the tom asked.

"Yes? You are the Twins?" I asked them. The queen nodded.

"We have a feeling you are hiding something from us. Blocks around your memories, and we cannot find your old home anywhere in your sister's memories. Who are you? What are you hiding?" they said, each one saying a couple of words before the other continued. I was pleased to know that my mental shields were holding up against their combined effort, yet I had no clue as to how I would explain the shields away.

"What do you mean, 'blocks around your memories'? Are you two psychics?" I said, thinking quickly about how I would do this. I could create false memories for me, yet I might not be able to pull those out when I didn't want them anymore.

"Yes, we are psychic," the queen said.

"That's nice to know," I said, inching away from them. I had no excuses on the top of my head, so I decided to do what made the most sense—run. In fact, I ran right into Old Deuteronomy.

"Quaxo! Where could you be going in such a hurry this early?" he asked me. I looked over my shoulder to make sure that the Twins hadn't followed me.

"Away from those two cats. I don't really like them. They're strange," I said. Old Deuteronomy nodded knowingly.

"I understand. They can be a bit disconcerting the first time you meet them. For curiosity's sake, what did they want?"

"They, for some reason unknown to me, think I'm hiding something. I don't know what I would hide though, other than the more awful parts of my imprisonment," I told him, continuing to look over my shoulder for those two twins.

"Oh. Just to let you know, Bombalurina and Demeter are also looking for you," Old Deuteronomy told me.

"They're looking for me? Why?" I asked, looking back at him.

"I'm not exactly sure. Something about hooks, maybe. I didn't catch the whole conversation," he replied. I nodded hesitantly.

"Well then, I shouldn't keep them waiting," I replied. I thought I knew why they were wanting to talk to me, and I wasn't excited for this meeting. They were, like Tugger, wanting to hook me up with some queen that I don't know. I was barely even old enough to start thinking about this, let alone have cats force me to start dating.

"There you are, Quaxo! I was hoping I would find you," Bombalurina said as she pulled me into her den. I looked around, and noticed Demeter standing there too.

"Quaxo, Bomby and I—well, mostly Bomby—were wondering if you liked Jemima. I don't get it, yet she wanted me to ask you," Demeter said.

"So, do you like her?" Bombalurina asked me.

"I still can't believe you want to do this Bomby. She's barely even old enough to start dating," Demeter said.

"I don't want a queen-friend at all," I said softly.

"Nonsence," Bombalurina said. She turned back to Demeter, continuing their discussion about whether or not I, without getting my opinion, should start dating Jemima.

"I don't want to go out with her. I want to be left alone," I muttered over and over again to myself. I felt power, almost a pressure inside me, wanting to explode from me. _Danger point_, I thought to myself, _Run_. And so I did. I ran out of the den, into a sudden downpour and out of the junkyard. I didn't know where I was going, yet I decided just to keep running. I ran past the wall of the junkyard, past the London city limits, and farther.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I told you I would get another chapter up today, didn't I? Didn't I? For once I actually come through on a promise. This chapter is mostly just Victoria and Misto time. They get to be siblings and ask each other questions. And Victoria asks Misto a really hard one too. So, here's this chapter. **

I hid under a tree stump. There was a hole underneath it that was large enough for me and Ria to be in there, and with enough space to move around slightly. The stump was about three miles outside of London, and Ria and I would come here for days on end when _he _was in a bad mood and wanted to take it out on us. It was the one place we truly could call home. The days we were here were some of my favorite days.

Unfortunately, today wasn't a good day. I was shivering in the back of the den, my coat absolutely soaked, and the rain wasn't letting up. And, to add insult to injury, it was a thunderstorm and I despised lightning. And thunder. I guess that stemmed from living from Macavity and getting a taste of his lightning. And so, I lay there, shivering, in the back of the den.

"Misto?" I heard Ria call. I looked up at her ghostly figure standing there. "Oh, Misto, what are you doing here?" She stepped in and nuzzled me lightly.

"Hiding," I replied miserably. "You?"

"Looking for you. I know you won't come out for a few days, and everyone's worried about you. Munk and Tugger and Alonzo are out looking for you. Even Coricopat and Tantomile are looking for you," Ria told me.

"Who's Coricopat and Tantomile?" I asked her, sitting up.

"They're the twins. Coricopat is the tom, and Tantomile is the queen," she replied. "Everyone was worried when you didn't come back, so they sent them out to look. I knew they wouldn't be able to find you, so I decided to come look for you here."

"You left the junkyard? What if Macavity found you?" I asked her.

"Well he didn't. And besides, why did you run away from the junkyard? Dem and Bomba just said that you ran away," Ria said. I wrapped my arms around her, hugging her tight.

"They were wanting me to start dating Jemima, and don't seem to realize that I don't want to. I was getting frustrated about it, and so I ran before I would hurt someone."

"Hurt someone? How? You wouldn't hurt anyone, unless you accidently shot lightning at them. Yet you can't, everyone's been calling you Quaxo, and you can't shoot lightning unless you've been called Mistofelees," Ria said, a confused look on her face.

"Remember that one time when I came here, about two weeks ago, when dad threatened to kill me?" I asked her softly, leaning my head back against the dirt wall.

"Yeah? What about it? He said something like he was going to roast you like you did to him. I didn't really understand."

"Yeah. I got mad, annoyed or something like that. I don't exactly remember what. And I somehow switched from Quaxo to Mistofelees without realizing it. And I electrocuted him. The lightning part of me it too unpredictable, too much like _him_. Being called Quaxo locks most of my powers, yet not the lightning sometimes."

"Oh. That would explain why you would run. You didn't want to hurt anyone," Ria said. I nodded and looked over at her.

"Are you scared of me, 'Ria?" I asked her softly, almost not wanting to hear the answer.

"Never. Can I ask you something, though?" she said.

"Always."

"What would you do if I said I wanted to mate with someone at the next Ball?" she asked me hesitantly. I looked over at her, gawking slightly, judging how harshly I should phrase my next comment.

"Ask you who and why?"

"Plato because he makes me happy. I would do anything for him. I think I love him," Ria said. To say that I hadn't expected her to like toms anytime soon would be an understatement. I figured that her memories from Macavity's lair—even though I blocked them—would prevent her from getting close to any toms. "Can you say something, Misto? Please?"

"You're too young."

"Not by the time of the Ball. I'll be 14 by then. I'll be old enough."

"Not really. Why don't you just wait? At least until your second Ball?" She shrugged.

"I'm not committed to it. I was just wondering what you would think," she said. "Why don't we head back home? I'm sure the toms would like it." I shrugged. "And also, 'Xo, Jemima likes your smile," Ria added as we walked out from under the tree stump.

"There you two are! We've been looking all over for you. Alonzo and Tugger are still out in the town looking for you now," Munkustrap told us when we reached the gate to the junkyard. "Victoria, I hope you realize that Jenny's out for my hide now because I let you slip out of the junkyard."

"I'm sorry Munk. I knew you wouldn't be able to find Quaxo, so I figured I would find him for you. I'm sorry," she replied.

"It's okay, Victoria. Just make sure it doesn't happen again. I worried that some cat was going to hurt you. Why don't you just head back inside?" Munkustrap said. She nodded, stepped inside and ducked out of site.

"Thank you," I said, looking up at Munkustrap.

"What? Why?" he replied.

"You were worried about Victoria. Not many cats have been," I said before stepping into the junkyard.

"Yo—you're welcome. Quaxo, you need to realize that you've got a family here now, both you and your sister, and we're going to worry about you," he replied. I nodded, and was attacked when I reached sight of the courtyard.

"I'm so sorry, Quaxo! I never could have forgiven myself if you had gotten hurt out there!" Bombalurina said as she gave me a huge hug. "I shouldn't have been forcing you to do something you didn't want to do. Can you ever find it in your heart to forgive me?"

"Yes, yes! Now get off of me, Bomba! I can't really breath," I said as I tried to shove Bombalurina off of me.

"Okay," Bombaluina said as she stepped away. Old Deuteronomy then walked up to me.

"I hope you don't plan on doing this again, Quaxo," he said. I shook my head. He nodded in reply and turned to the cats in the courtyard. "I have some good news Jellicles. Guess who's coming tomorrow?"

"The Great Rumpus Cat maybe?" a white kit with black and orange stripes asked.

"Correct, Etcetera. He'll be here tomorrow morning."

Great. How will I get out of this mess?


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: So, I have a new chapter (man I love summer!) up, with what Misto is so worried about. It's a pretty long chapter this time, so I hope you enjoy it. I'll probably update soon after this one too, since I have the next one and a half written up already, so enjoy!**

I paced back and forth next to the eastern wall of the junkyard, wringing my tail (ignoring the pain) and wondering how I could manage to live through tomorrow. Why? Because I tried to kill the Great Rumpus Cat. Yes, yes, I tried to kill the one hero us cats have, yet Macavity forced me to. I failed at my task, barely escaped with my life—I still have a scar on my leg from him—and got electrocuted afterwards for it. That was one fun night, I have to say.

Now, here I was, nearly three months after that encounter, and I had to worry about the Great Rumpus Cat killing me again. I figured I could try to block his memories, yet then the twins would know something is strange with me. I could also try to run away for the day, yet then they would send out another search party, and I didn't want that to happen. I could also just ask the Great Rumpus Cat to simply act like he doesn't know me, yet that's only if I can't think of anything else. I could even just ignore it, and hope that he doesn't recognize me. I doubted that the last option would work, so I figured I was left with option three. I figured that I should go talk to Ria, let her know that I love her, that I want all my earthly possessions to go to her and get my will in order. The Great Rumpus Cat would never listen to my side of the argument and would sooner kill me.

As I walked over to Ria, I compiled a best-case and worst-case scenario. Best case: The Great Rumpus Cat agreed to be my life-long servant because I always put life and limb on the line to protect my sister. Worst case? I get gutted. And then he dances on my gravesite, rejoicing that he got rid of such a horrible cat. I suspected that the worst-case scenario was more likely to happen.

"What's wrong, 'Xo?" Ria asked me as I walked over to her. I nodded off in a different direction, silently telling her that I couldn't say in front of her friends. She nodded, walked over to me and looked me straight in the eye. "You're worried about the Great Rumpus Cat, aren't you?" she asked.

"Yes. I'm worried that he's going to kill me, so I've decided that my few worldly possessions should go to you. Stay away from Tugger and you can mate with Plato," I told her, completely serious. Ria smiled and shook her head.

"'Xo, you really should just talk to him. I doubt that he'll kill you. Just explain what happened and I think he'll be fine. He will recognize you, and I don't want you to be found out," Ria said. I had to give it to her, she never really acts like a kit her age. Maybe that's why she wants to mate so early.

"You're right, 'Ria," I said, nuzzling her softly.

"There you are Victoria. Pounce was wondering where you were and I knew you would be with Quaxo," Jemima said. She looked over and smiled slightly, looking down.

"Hello, Jemima. How are you?" I asked her, a smile on my face.

"Fine," she replied, her voice about two octaves higher than usual.

"Victoria, why don't you go play with your friends? I'm sure you would like that more than hanging out with your boring brother," I told Ria. She nodded, smiling, and ran off with Jemima. As I watched them run off, I figured I should ask Munkustrap which entrance the Great Rumpus Cat would be walking through so that I would be sure that I could see him first.

"Hey, Demeter," I said as she walked by. She stopped, looked over at me and walked over.

"Yeah?"

"Do you know where Munkustrap is?" I asked her.

"South entrance. He's standing at the watch post," she replied. I nodded my thanks and ran off to find Munkustrap.

"Hey there, Quaxo," he called when he saw me coming. I waved and he jumped down and walked over to me. "What do you want?"

"I was just wondering which entrance the Great Rumpus Cat was going to come through. I was wondering if he could help me with something," I told him truthfully.

"This entrance, sometime around dawn, I believe," Munkustrap replied before walking over to the courtyard. I nodded and sat down next to the opening, waiting for the Great Rumpus Cat to come.

About a half-hour before the sun started to rise, I heard a cat walking past me. I opened my eyes and saw him, the Great Rumpus Cat. I stood up, trying to be quiet, yet he heard me. He wheeled around, and glared at me, taking in my appearance before running up to me and grabbing me by the throat. I scratched at the paw that was holding me up, gasping for breath and trying to get down.

"You! You're that despicable cat that tried to kill me a couple of months ago! I can't believe that he let you live," he snarled. I could start to tell that I was suffocating, because I could see my vision starting to fade in and out and my lips were starting to get numb. "Explain yourself," he said, throwing me down to the ground. I gasped, never more appreciative of oxygen.

"I—I tried to kill you because I was ordered to," I said softly. "Macavity ordered me to, and threatened to kill my sister and mother if I failed. I had no choice."

"I hate people who say they have no choice. You always have a choice. Always," he replied, standing over me.

"No. I had no choice. I had nowhere to go, and I didn't want to have my sister killed. I didn't want to kill you, otherwise you would be dead. I would never have bothered you again, yet Macavity raped my sister, killed my mother and is probably out for my blood and I need to stay hidden. Please, act like you've never seen me before, that's all I'm asking you," I said as I looked up at his terrifying shape. He took a few deep breaths before replying.

"Fine. I'll do this, yet I'm warning you now," he said, squatting down above me with one of his claws dangerously close to my stomach. "If anything happens to the Jellicles, I swear I'll be after you. Not Macavity, _you_." I nodded my agreement and he walked to the courtyard as if nothing had happened. I took a few deep breaths, reflecting on how close I had been to death, and stood up and walked over to the courtyard. Victoria looked up as I stepped inside the courtyard and walked over to me.

"See, I told you he wouldn't kill you, 'Xo," Ria said. I laughed softly. She shrugged. "At least you aren't dead now."

"Yeah. What's Jemima doing?" I asked her.

"Listening to the Great Rumpus Cat," Ria said with a smile. "You should join us." I shook my head and she walked back over to them.

"It's nice that the Great Rumpus Cat puts up the kits. Not many of the toms do," Munkustrap said when he walked over to me. I looked up at him.

"I guess. Why doesn't he just wait until the Jellicle ball to come though? Isn't that when everyone comes?" I asked him.

"I don't know. Maybe he thinks he'll be too busy or he just wants to see family. I don't know," Munkustrap replied.

"Oh. Munkustrap, I was wondering, are there any empty dens here? Victoria's nightmares are getting worse, and I don't want to be a burden on you or Alonzo."

"I doubt you could be a burden, yet I'm sure there are some empty dens. You could look along the south wall tomorrow."

"I think I'll go look now," I said, starting to walk towards that wall.

"Nonsense. Go listen to some of the Rumpus Cat's stories, and then go look for a den," Munkustrap said, turning me towards the Great Rumpus Cat. I reluctantly walked over there and sat next to Jemima and Ria. The Great Rumpus Cat looked up, and finished his story quickly.

"Tell us another one," one of the tom-kits asked.

"Please," Etcetera added.

"Okay then, just because you asked," the Great Rumpus Cat said. "It was a dark and stormy night, about three months ago. I had been patrolling the city all night in the rain and I was drenched and excited for a warm bed inside. Just as I was about to step inside my home, I heard a feeble cry for help. Now, I couldn't just leave this cat out to fend for herself, so I ran down the alleyway I heard it from. There were two cats sitting there. One was as black as the starless night at midnight with a lone patch of white on his leg, and the other was a white cat with a couple of patches of ginger.

"'Please don't hurt me,' she begged, 'I don't even know what I did wrong!'

"'I'm sorry cat, yet I must. Orders are orders, after all,' the other one said. I couldn't take it any longer, so I ran up to the black cat and pushed him over.

"'Run!' I told the queen. She nodded and then ran off. I looked over at the black cat, who was standing up and said, 'Sheath your claws and leave this city, or die by my claws.'

"'I'm sorry, yet I can't do that,' he replied, crouching down into a defensive position. I sighed and unsheathed my claws. He pounced and we were fighting. There was cutting and slashing and stabbing and finally I stood over the other cat's dead body. I bowed my head, prayed for the Great Cat's mercy on this unnamed cat and walked away," The Great Rumpus Cat said, looking at me. I knew I had a horrified face, no matter how I tried to hide it. I had known that cat, Lunanoir was his name, when I Ria and I had lived at Macavity's place. He was one of the few cats there against his choice. He was also just trying to protect his family from Macavity's wrath, and so he worked for Macavity. I had noticed when he didn't come back from a simple assassination mission—I believe he was supposed to kill a queen who had refused Macavity's company—and was wondering why. Well, now I knew, and I probably knew why. Any sane cat would rather be slashed to pieces than be electrocuted by him.

"You okay, Quaxo?" one of the tom-kits asked me. I looked over at him, snapped back to reality. I nodded slightly.

"Oh, lay off him, Tumble. Not everyone likes violence," Jemima said.

"Looks like someone has the hots for Quaxo," Tumble said.

"I do not!" Jemima said, blushing crimson.

"Fine then," Tumble replied. He looked over the Great Rumpus Cat. "Can you tell us another one, please?"

"I don't think so. It looks like Munk wants to talk," The Great Rumpus Cat said. We looked over our shoulder at Munkustrap coming over. Tumble groaned and stood up.

"You can get more stories later," Munkustrap said. "I need to talk to him for a minute." We nodded and walked away. I walked slowly, listening to what they were saying.

"You wanted to talk?" Munkustrap asked the Great Rumpus Cat.

"Yeah, about that black and white cat," he replied. I almost turned around, yet I ducked behind a pile of trash instead to listen in on what they were saying.

"Why?" I heard Munkustrap ask.

"Do you know where he came from?"

"No. Just that he used to live in a bad household. He doesn't like to talk about it." I was desperately praying to the Great Cat that the Great Rumpus Cat wouldn't correct him.

"Well, he recognized one of the cats in my story."

"Really? One of the cats you saved?"

"No. One of Macavity's cats."


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: OMZ, I can't believe how much people are liking this story. It's been great seeing all the reviews on the review page, and how many emails I'm getting from it. So, in honor of the reviews, I've officially dedicated this story to SummerRose12, Insanemistosingsmore, Olliv Lynn Sulam and raptoregg64, who have all reviewed the last chapter. Many of you are wondering if the Great Rumpus Cat will actually tell Munkustrap, so here's the answer and the next chapter. It will be a few days until the next chapter is up because it still needs to be written, yet I'm hoping that it won't be too long for you guys. **

"Quaxo?" Munkustrap called. "Where are you?" Inwardly I groaned and prepared myself for their questions. I stood up, turned towards them and walked over.

"Yes?" I asked them softly, "What do you want?"

"Nothing. You aren't even in trouble. We just want to ask you some questions," Munkustrap said. I looked up at him and the Great Rumpus Cat.

"Quaxo, is it?" The Great Rumpus Cat asked. I nodded. "Quaxo, do you know a black cat with a white spot on his leg?"

"Only if the spot looked like a star," I told them.

"So you did know him. Did you know that he worked for Macavity?" The Great Rumpus Cat asked. I quickly put a horrified face on and shook my head quickly.

"No! I barely even knew him," I told them, trying to come up with a story of how I knew him fast.

"How did you know him?" Munkustrap said.

"He—he noticed my sister and me trying to fit through a hole in a fence. I had gotten caught, and so he helped me get unstuck. He asked us why we were running away, and he when he found out, he promised that he would help us run away after he made arrangements for somewhere for us to stay. We waited, and yet he never came back. I guess I know why now," I said sadly. Most of that was true, he did promise to help us run away, yet we weren't caught in a fence.

"And he never said anything about Macavity?" the Great Rumpus Cat asked me.

"No. Not by name at least. I didn't talk to Lunanoir much. I mostly saw him, and saw the food that he would sometimes bring. He was one of the nicest cats I ever knew," I told them.

"Lunanoir?"

"That was his name," I said softly. I hadn't meant to say his name. I looked up at Munkustrap. "Can I go now?" I asked him.

"Yes. You can go look for a den. South wall, remember," Munkustrap said. I nodded and left them standing there and contemplating my past.

"Hello, Quaxo," I heard Coricopat say to my left. I looked over at him, and saw that his sister had walked up to me on my right.

"Hello," I replied, mentally berating myself for letting them sneak up on me. I continued walking—with them following—for a few minutes before I thought about Victoria. "You two are psychics, right?" I asked them, stopping.

"Yes," Tantomile said.

"Can you guys figure out why my sister keeps having nightmares every night?" I asked. Coricopat and Tantomile looked at each other.

"I'm sure we could," they said in unison. "We could watch her mind tonight, and tell you what we find tomorrow."

"Thank you. They've been getting worse, and I don't want her to start getting too scared when she's awake," I told them. They nodded and walked off. As they did, I had the sneaking suspicion that they were following me because they were waiting for me to ask that. As I checked over my mental shields by habit, I walked up to the south wall and looked at the dozens of holes in the junkyard piles. I jumped up, completely passing off the few dens that were on the ground, preferring to have a den higher up so that Ria could see the sky easier. I looked in a couple, tried to imagine Ria and me living there, and when I couldn't I moved onto another. It was a couple of hours before I finally found a den that I thought was perfect. It had a large main room, and a smaller room shooting off of it. I could almost imagine me sleeping in this main room, protecting Ria in the smaller room from any misfortune.

"No one lives here," a slightly cocky voice said from behind me. Tugger. I turned around and saw that cocky, self-centered cat leaning against the edge of the opening of the den. I sighed and turned back to the inside of the den.

"Do you want something?" I asked him when I didn't hear him leave.

"Yeah. You said you were a magician, so can you show me any magic?" Tugger asked.

"No," I replied, glad for once that people had been calling me Quaxo, rather than Mistofelees. I turned back to Tugger to see his expression.

"Please?" he asked.

"No," I replied, smiling slightly at how he looked like he was deflating.

"Please Mistofelees? C'mon Misto, just one trick." Damn that cat. I had no choice but to perform one trick for him. Besides, I couldn't refuse that pathetic look on his face.

"Fine," I replied, looking outside for a pebble or something. I grabbed a small pebble from the ground, jumped back up to the den and sat down. "Sit down. It'll be easier that way." Tugger sat down next to me, not talking for once, and watching my every move.

"What will you do?" Tugger asked me softly.

"You'll see," I replied. I held the rock out so that he could see it clearly. "This is a magic rock. It disappears and reappears. All you have to do is hold your paw over it," I held my paw over it, "say 'abracadabra' and it disappears." I moved my paw. For once, I was actually able to make it disappear. I had troubles with making things disappear and reappear. I had been practicing for ages, yet I still didn't have the catch of it. It was probably because I rarely had a chance to practice, yet I didn't know.

"Where'd it go?" Tugger said, looking up at me.

"In your mouth, silly. Spit it out, rocks aren't good to eat," I said, praying to the Great Cat that I had made it reappear in his mouth, rather than somewhere else. He looked confused for a moment, yet then he looked awestruck as he spit the small pebble out.

"How on earth did you do that?" he asked me. "That was an amazing trick! You should show the kits that." I shook my head quickly.

"How could I explain it to them? That me, Quaxo, the cat who can't stand to be away from his sister and who can't stand the thought of violence is actually a magic cat," I told him. To make my point clearer I laughed mirthlessly. "Seriously Tugger, I can't. And then those stupid Twins will want to ask me what else I can do. I can't Tugger, and you yourself said as much earlier." I stood up and walked farther back into the den, so that he couldn't see the tears forming in my eyes. I wanted to tell them, to be myself, yet it would never work.

"Right," Tugger said, sounding crestfallen. "And Misto, if you want anything for your den, a cat burglar named Mungojerrie is coming with his sister, Rumpleteazer. I don't think you would want to get involved with them, yet they might be able to get some stuff for you and your den." I looked over at him, not believing my ears.

"Jerrie's coming? When?" I asked him, turning around.

"Tomorrow," Tugger replied, almost suspiciously. "Why?"

"No reason. Just wondering," I replied. I was thinking fast, almost faster than when I heard that the Great Rumpus Cat was coming. Jerrie was my best friend, almost more so than Ria or Lunanoir. I knew he would be able to keep his trap shut about my identity, yet I wanted to talk to him. Of course, if I waited for him, it could be a sleepless night. No doubt, he would be on a heist tonight and would be sleeping in late. So, I opted to sleep also, and just let Tugger tell them I wanted to talk. "Tugger, could you let Jerrie know that I want to talk to him. I'm thinking about getting some stuff from him." Tugger, I could tell, wasn't too happy about it, yet he nodded anyways before jumping down to the ground.

"I'll see you tomorrow then," Tugger called up to me. I nodded and stepped back into the den, watching the evening stars appear.

"Now, Tugger, is that a threat or a promise?" I muttered to myself as I curled up on the floor to go to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Another chapter is now posted, and let me say, this chapter is the absolute bane of my existence. It's slightly more mature than the previous chapters, and the fact that Mungojerrie has an awesome accent, and I had to/tried to recreate it in writing was annoying. Three hours later and three episodes of London soap operas later (I think I ended up watching East End, or some such like that) I decided to do something much easier and just take out some h's, t's and change I to the common Oi. I hope you like this chapter. And, I have a question for you guys: how many more chapters do you want before I move on to the night of Misto and Ria's first Ball? I have about five planned, and then I was going to start on the Ball. Anyways, read, review, and answer my question please.**

"Now, imagine my surprise when Teazer an' Oi come to the junkyard to relax from las' night's perilous 'eist, and to take a few orders, when, lo and be'old, Tugger, who despises everything my sister and I do, walks up to me and tells me that a certain Jellicle called Quaxo wants to talk to me. _No_, Oi think to myself, _that can't be the Quaxo _Oi _know. _So I come 'ere, telling Teazer to play with the other kits, and, lo and be'old, Oi see a familiar black and white tom. _Amazing,_ Oi think to myself, _it is the Quaxo Oi know!_ And so 'ere Oi am, just begging to 'ear this amazing story, because it's not like my best friend would know that Oi love a good story," I heard Jerrie, my best friend say. I smiled slightly, imagining him just standing against the wall. I rolled over and opened my eyes.

"Well, it's nice to see you too, Jerrie," I told him as I stretched and stood up. He wasn't standing against the wall like I thought, yet he was actually just sitting next to me, leaning against the wall and looking outside, watching a bird fly.

"It's nice to see you too, yet seriously, 'Xo, Oi go to HP for my monthly report, and Oi decide to make a visit to my best friend, because it's not like Oi can just see 'im any old day Oi feel like it. Now, imagine my surpri—no, 'orror—when I don' find 'im, _or_ his sister. Oi think, _'e's done it, he's finally killed the only other sane cat in this 'ell'ole._ And so I walk away and go on with life, all the while mourning this great loss to catkind. Yet 'ere I am, wif you in front of me, wondering 'ow on Earth you managed to get 'ere," Jerrie told me.

"I was carried here. That was how I got here," I replied, smiling.

"Carr—Wha'?" Jerrie asked me. "That ain't the 'ole story."

"Well, of course it's not. You just asked how I got here," I replied.

"Fine then. Tell me please, why did you leave Macavity and why did you chose to come 'ere?" he replied, enunciating the last sentence carefully.

"You knew it was a long time coming," I told him.

"Well, yeah. It' been a long time coming for me too, yet Oi still 'aven' left yet,"

"Yet HP hasn't raped your sister or killed your mother," I said bitterly.

"Really? 'e 'as? Oi can' believe that, 'Xo. That's 'orrible. Not to mention, that's why Oi've tried 'ard to keep Teazer away from them."

"I know. You want to know why I left? I left because he threatened to kill me after I refused to try and kill the Great Rumpus Cat again. I kept refusing, even after he had electrocuted me several times—I think my screams are why his minions think I'm dead—and so he forced me to watch as he killed my mother and raped 'Ria. I convinced her to run away from me in the night, yet she ended up collapsing a couple of streets away next to a dumpster. I managed to stay conscience myself until a cat walked by. I took a risk, and asked him for 'elp. It turned out to be the Rum Tum Tugger who brought me here," I told him.

"You asked for 'elp?" Jerrie asked, incredulous. "Ye' that goes against everything you're taught with HP. Don' run, keep your 'ead down, an' especially don' ask a strange cat for 'elp. Why'd you do it?"

"I don' know. I wanted my sister to have a good life. An' I wasn' even sure that it was the right choice at the time. I'm still not sure, in fact. I just don' want anyone to get 'urt," I told him.

"Well, you'll 'ave to live with that if you want to live 'ere. It's what Oi 'ave to go through every time Oi come 'ere," he said, standing up. "Oh, and did you want anything?"

"Yeah, could you have Teazer pick up a few things for 'Ria? I know they're close an' Oi want to decorate this place so that she'll like it," I replied.

"Sounds good to me. Oi'll be sure to get some things for her," he said as he started to walk out the door, "Oh, and 'Xo, don' forget to listen to yourself nex' 'ime you're around me. It would do you good to remind yourself that you're no be'er than I am." And on that nice note, he dropped out of site. I thought about how I was talking, and winced. There were only two things about being around Jerrie that I didn't like: the fact that I always picked up his accent and the fact that he always reminded me that I was just a stupid tool—or worse, just a pawn—in my life. I hissed slightly and dropped down to the ground from the den. I needed to apologize to Jerrie about my attitude. I always seemed to act slightly above him whenever I saw him.

I walked into the courtyard, hoping to find Jerrie, yet I saw a kit that looked remarkably like him. This, I would assume, is Rumpleteazer. I had never actually seen Rumpleteazer due to Jerrie's reluctance to let her come to HP's hideout. I looked around the courtyard, and finally spotted him watching the kits from the chair that was on the top of a pile of trash. I walked over to him, sat down and looked up at him. He looked down at me for a minute, and then jumped down.

"Wha' do you wan'?" Jerrie asked me. I took a deep breath before answering.

"I wanted to say sorry. I know I act horribly around you, and I shouldn't. I didn't even really ask you how you or Teazer were," I told him.

"It's okay, 'Xo. I know you don' mean too," Jerrie replied. "An' if you're apologizin' then Oi know you're sorry." I smiled, glad that I wouldn't have to beg for forgivness.

"So, how is Teazer doing?" I asked him, looking over to where Teazer was playing with Victoria and the other kits.

"She's fine. She's an excellent burglar, when she doesn' star' giggling in the mi'le of an 'eist. She still 'as no clue of me bein' wif HP."

"That's good. She seems to be getting along fine with Victoria and Electra," I said.

"Yeah. She also gets along with Electra pretty well. Not so much with Jemima though, I have no idea why," Jerrie said. I shrugged. Despite living with Victoria all my life, I still didn't understand the ways of the queens, kits included.

"Well, Oi'd best be going. I do live with an 'uman family with Teazer, and they're prolly getting worried. We 'aven' been back in a couple of days," Jerrie said. And with a pat on my shoulder, and a whistle to Teazer, they walked out of the junkyard. I knew I would miss them, yet I had friends here I needed to make.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hey, I told you there would be another chapter this week, and here it is. I managed to work through the stupid family trees, which proved not to matter anyways. Ugh. So, I created a blog, which will have deleted chapters, the family trees that I created, and pictures of my random notes and jottings for some of my stories. If you want to see it, it's at stories from across the sea. blogspot. com (no spaces). So, anyways here's the next chapter, and if you're good, you might get another chapter by Saturday night. **

As Jerrie and Teazer walked away, I heard two cats walk up behind me. "Hello, Quaxo," Coricopat and Tantomile in unison from either side of me. I turned around and saw them standing there, with concerned faces looking down at me.

"Yes? Did you figure anything out about Victoria's nightmares?" I asked them, not liking the concerned faces they had.

"Yes," Tantomile said.

"Do you mind talking somewhere more…private?" Coricopat asked. I nodded and we walked a small ways down one of the paths through the junkyard.

"So what did you find out?" I asked them when we stopped.

"We have found some strange things over the past night," Coricopat said.

"She seems to be an empath," Tantomile said. I didn't like where this was going.

"An empath,"

"Is a cat who,"

"Can read the emotions or,"

"Absorb those emotions of those"

"Around them. In Victoria's,"

"Case, it seems that she,"

"Absorbs the worse emotions,"

"Such as anger,"

"Hate, jealousy,"

"Yet mostly pain," they said in unison.

"What's that got to do with anything?" I asked, not really sure I wanted to hear this.

"Those emotions tend to," Coricopat said.

"Weaken the blocks around," Tantomile said.

"Worse memories,"

"And allow her to…" I didn't need to hear the rest.

"And allow her to relive them as nightmares," I finished for them. I felt absolutely sick. The blocks I had so meticulously placed around Victoria's memories of Macavity raping her were failing, as I had suspected. I looked up at them—I had ended up sitting down on the ground. "Is there anything you can do?"

"Do you know anything about those memories?" Tantomile asked.

"Someone rapes her. Hurts her, something like that. She tells me what her nightmares are about, usually," I replied. "So, can you? I don't want her to live with memories of someone raping her." The one piece of magic I used on her to protect her ended up hurting her. I hate my magic. I hate myself—no, I hate Macavity for doing this, not me for trying to protecting her.

"We might be able to do something," Tantomile said.

"If we can't block the memories, we could at least help her accept them," Coricopat said. I stepped up to them, and gave them a hug.

"Thank you. A thousand times thank you," I said.

"How far would you go to save your sister?" Coricopat said suddenly. I stepped back and looked over at him.

"If it would save her, I would die, Coricopat. I would do anything to save her," I said.

"Really? Or are you just saying that?" he asked me.

"I mean it, Coricopat. I've nearly died several times already for her," I replied. He pursed his lips, as if he didn't believe me and nodded to his sister, who walked off with him.

"What was that about?" Tugger asked me when they were out of earshot. I looked over at him.

"I asked them if they could help with Victoria's nightmares. And right now, I'm not sure I should have," I said.

"I know what you mean. For the longest time I never trusted them," Tugger said.

"Yeah. I'm siding with not trusting them," I replied. I looked over at the place where the Twins had left. "And I'm not doing another magic trick for you," I added.

"I didn't want another magic trick. I came on orders from Munk to ask how you were adjusting to Jellicle life," Tugger said, sounding bored.

"I'm adjusting fine. Give me the rest of the week and I'll be fine," I said.

"That's good. Victoria seems to be adjusting well," Tugger replied

"Better than me. I'm glad that the other kits are being nice to her."

"They're good kits," Tugger said absentmindedly. He sat down on the ground and looked over at me. "Misto, you grew up with Macavity, right?"

"Yeah, why?" I said.

"How did you know I was safe? Why did you ask me for help?" Tugger asked. I shrugged. I had been asking myself that same question since I had woken up that first day.

"I didn't know you were safe. I don't really know why I asked you for help. I knew that Victoria and I needed help badly, and if I didn't ask for help, Victoria would die. I almost didn't ask you though. You're nearly completely black, and all of Macavity's minions are black. I owed it to Victoria, though, to get help, and I knew I was starting to fade out of consciousness," I said.

"Well, I'm glad you asked me for help. I wouldn't want you dead. You're the only cat who I can talk to and not have to worry about being a cocky flirt," he said softly.

"Now, Tugger, I'll be taken soon, or at least I hope so," I said. "And you wouldn't want anyone thinking you're gay either."

"I wouldn't worry about that, Misto. They already think I'm gay. And who's the queen you're wanting to start dating?" Tugger asked.

"Jemima. Now, it's just a matter of whether or not Munkustrap will let me. And Demeter, for that matter. Don't tell Bombaluina, though," I said.

"Finally, me trying to play matchmaker has worked. I consider my life a success," Tugger replied. "When are you going to ask them?"

"I'm not really sure. I'll maybe ask when I'm sure Munkustrap won't kill me."

"Munkustrap won't kill you," Tugger said, "I think."

"Great," I replied. I stood up and looked over at Tugger. "I think I'm going to go see Victoria. I haven't seen her at all today, and I didn't see her much yesterday."

"Well then, I hope you get some quality time together," Tugger said. I nodded and walked off towards the main courtyard. I saw Ria there, playing with Jemima and Electra.

"Hi Victoria. Hi Jemima. Hi Electra," I said to them.

"Hi Quaxo. How are you today?" Electra asked me.

"I'm fine. How are you?" I asked.

"We're fine. Jemima here was just saying—"

"I wasn't saying anything," Jemima said, cutting Electra off.

"Well, then what were you saying about hoping Quaxo—"

"I didn't say anything, Electra. Nothing that Quaxo would want to know, at least," Jemima said, again cutting Electra off.

"Oh. I get it, now. Jemima wasn't saying anything. Did you want anything?" Electra said.

"No, I was just wondering what Victoria was doing," I said, watching Jemima play with her tail.

"I was just playing with my friends. Did you want something?"

"No, I was just wanting to talk. We can talk later though. Have fun," I said as I walked away. For the first time, I was almost missing life back with Macavity. At least I had a couple of friends there. Here though, I had none. Tumblebrutus just thinks I'm a joke, Pouncicval goes along with whatever Tumblebrutus thinks and I still haven't met Plato. Since I can't really hang out with cats who don't like me, and I can't really hang out with the older toms, I was alone here. I couldn't wait until Jerrie came back. I needed someone to convince me to not run back to Macavity and beg for forgiveness.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Well, I was going to upload this Friday night, since I had so many people review the last chapter, yet our internet decided to die. So, to make up for it, I decided to write two chapters, maybe three, since I've written the third chapter already, and upload them. I've changed the ages in the earlier chapters and I've changed the name that Quaxo uses to think of Victoria. Nothing much, just what I thought would be more natural. In this chapter, there's more brother-sister bonding and that's about all. Next chapter there'll be more action. So, enjoy this chapter. **

"Hey, Xo. Tugger told me I might find you here," I heard Ria say. I had been moping in my den all afternoon, and I felt so pathetic that I didn't even turn to greet her. "Oh, Xo, I didn't mean to force you away. Why don't you hang around Tumble, or Pounce or even Plato? They were looking for you earlier." I felt her kneel down beside me and wrap her arms around me. I looked over at her pale face, wondering if I heard her correctly.

"Pouncival and Tumblebrutus want to hang out with me? I thought that they didn't like me since I 'couldn't take' the Great Rumpus Cat's stories," I said.

"No, they like you—I think. I think it was just that Tumble likes Jemima, and since he thinks you like Jemima that you were going to steal her from him. Jemima set him straight though," Ria said. I nodded slowly, contemplating on whether or not I should go look for them tomorrow or not.

"Okay then. I'll try to be friends with them. No promises though," I told her. She smiled and leaned her head against my shoulder.

"You'll be friends with them. I know it," she said. _This was one of the times_, I couldn't help but to think, _that she seems to be older than I am_. "Why are you here though, rather than with Alonzo?"

"I didn't want to be annoying, so I decided to get a den. How do you like it?" I asked her. She stood up and walked around the den, looking at the other small rooms and such.

"I like it, yet it seems a bit empty. Aren't you going to put anything in here?" Ria asked me.

"Yeah. I haven't gotten to that part yet, though. Jerrie's going to bring me some stuff also," I replied.

"Jerrie came?" Ria asked. "I bet he came when Teazer did. I can't believe that he didn't even say hi to me." I shrugged.

"He seemed preoccupied when I talked to him," I told her. "What was Teazer like? I didn't get to talk to her at all."

"Oh, my gosh, Xo," Ria said, sitting down in front of me. "She is _exactly_ like Jerrie. Even down to her mannerisms. I couldn't believe it when I met her. I do have a question for you." I looked at her, cocking an eyebrow.

"Oh yes? What is this question of yours?" I asked her.

"Did you pick up Jerrie's accent again?" she said, smiling. I narrowed my eyes.

"Maybe," I said.

"You did? I wish I had heard that," Ria said, breaking out into a large smile. I don't know why, yet she always thought it was funny when I picked up Jerrie's accent. I smiled in return and gave her a hug.

"I also learned something new about Jerrie and Teazer. Skimbleshanks, that cat who hangs around Jennyanydots, the queen who helped us right when got here, is their dad. He lives on the railroad most of the time and he had an affair with a queen on the train. He got Jerrie and Teazer out of that, and he raised them on the train. When Jerrie could take care of himself, he ran away, where I think he joined up with Macavity, and he came back a few months later and took Teazer. Skimble didn't really care though," she said.

"That's too bad," I said. Ria nodded. She opened her mouth, paused and then looked down. "What is it Ria?" I asked her.

"Xo, do you know why Corico and Tanto keep following me? I noticed it last night, and they followed me here," she said. I took a deep breath and looked at her.

"They seem to think that you're a magic cat," I told her. She looked up at me with an amused look on her face.

"Magic? Yet you're the magic one, not me," she said.

"Well, they seem to think that your magic is more subtle and deals with emotions. And they think that over the course of the day the emotions that you absorb give you nightmares," I replied. She frowned and looked down at the floor.

"Will they keep following me?" she asked. There was a small note of worry in her voice. "I don't like them. They remind me of _his_ cats."

"I'll ask them to stop. They might want to teach you about your magic, though. I'll try to get them to stop though. Do you want to stay here for the night where they can't get to you?" I asked her, half-hoping that she would. Unfortunately, she shook her head no.

"I told Jemima that I would stay with her. Her mom is with her humans and Munk has to be on watch tonight and she wasn't wanting to be alone. If I have nightmares though, I'll be sure to come straight here," she told me.

"Did you have any nightmare last night?" I asked her.

"No. It was the first time in months that I haven't," she replied with a small smile. I smiled in return, glad that the Twins had pulled through on one from.

"That's good. Maybe you won't have any more," I told her.

"I hope so," she said softly, as if she were afraid of jinxing it. She looked out across the quickly darkening sky. "Xo, can you walk me to Jemima's den? I don't really like walking around the junkyard at night." I nodded and we stepped out of the den. We walked over to the courtyard and I walked up to a den.

"Is this it?" I asked her.

"Yes. Jemima's family also lives with Bomba, so she'll be around also," Ria said. She gave me a quick hug, nuzzled me on my chest. She slipped into the den, and when I was sure she would be safe, I turned to walk back to my den. I didn't take more than two steps when I noticed two pairs of glowing yellow eyes.

"Yes? What do you want?" I called out. Two lithe black and white figures melted out of the shadows. Coricopat and Tantomile were standing there.

"We want to know why you are lying to us. Why, or better yet, how do you have shields around you mind?" they asked in unison. I looked around, debating on how well I could run away, if need be. They understood the junkyard's layout better than I did, yet I was most likely faster and lighter than them and I probably knew the city better. Of course though, I would be put in a bad light in Munkustrap's eyes and there goes my chances with Jemima and the tribe.

"I don't know why I have mental shields," I said.

"Fine then. How does Victoria have blocks around memories? Last night we saw those memories. How did she meet Macavity? We want answers!" they said.

"I don't know! I don't have answers for you!" I said.

"What do you mean? You talked about Macavity with her all the time. We want answers!" they continued in unison, their combined voices making an eerie cord.

"How did you know that? Have you been reading her mind like a book?" I asked them, stepping forward and unsheathing my claws. They responded in kind before answering my question.

"You were the one who asked us to watch her dreams. We saw that in her dreams and now we want answers," they said as their voices grew closer in frequency, creating an ear-wrenching cord that made me want to claw my ears out. I heard worse though, with Macavity, and so I was able to keep a hold on my composure.

"I asked you to tell me why she was having nightmares, not to read her mind and betray her secrets. Why can't she have privacy even there?" I asked them, taking another step forward.

"You should have thought of that before you asked us then," they replied.

"You should have practiced restraint!" I said. They screeched and launched themselves at me. I braced for their impact, yet a silver blur crashed into them and prevented them from hitting me. Munkustrap stood up and placed himself between the Twins and myself.

"What is the meaning of this, Coricopat, Tantomile?" Munkustrap asked them. His voice was low, even and deadly. I remained silent with my claws still unsheathed. It wasn't that I didn't trust Munkustrap to protect my, yet that I wouldn't put it past Coricopat to distract Munkustrap as Tantomile started cutting me down. "Quaxo, Why were Coricopat and Tantomile trying to attack you?" he asked when he received no answer from the other two. I took a deep breath to calm down before answering.

"They were asking questions that I felt that I didn't need to answer," I replied. Munkustrap nodded, and looked back at the twins.

"You don't need to be questioning Quaxo and Victoria on their past. We didn't question yours, so you shouldn't question his," Munkustrap said. Coricopat grimaced, nodded and walked off with Tantomile. Munkustrap looked back at me. "I'm sorry about them. They aren't usually like that," he told me. I shrugged.

"It's fine. I don't care about them asking me weird questions. It's just when they start targeting Victoria that I feel they crossed the line," I said softly. I looked around at the small crowd that had gathered before making my way back to my den for the night.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: See! See! I told you I would get another chapter up! I feel really good about this story, considering it's my longest one to date (yea! and I've not gotten writer's block yet!) So, here it is, another chapter, with possibly more drama than the last one is now up and ready to be read. I'll be hiding in an underground bunker until I load up another chapter, so no matter what you try to do, I'll be safe. Anyways, read, review and all that jazz.**

The next day, I paused before stepping out of my den. I had been on edge all night, waking up at the slightest sounds, ever since my last…encounter with the twins. With them going to attack me, it had brought me back to my fearful state that I was always in when I lived with Macavity. It took me a while to remind myself that I was at the junkyard, that I was safe and that no one was out for, or would be rewarded for, my hide. I stretched after a few minutes of telling myself that, and jumped down to the ground. I almost went to Ria, when I remembered what she asked me to do. I told her that I would try and be friends with Tumblebrutus, Pouncival and Plato. I walked into the courtyard, yet didn't get more than two steps inside when I saw Tumblebrutus.

"Hey, Quaxo," Tumblebrutus said as he walked up to me. "Vic told me that you were going to hang out with us today, so are you going to?" I plastered a smile on my face, not really happy about this, yet I nodded. "Awesome. Pounce and Plato are waiting for us in the city," he said. I nodded and followed him out of the junkyard. We walked past several alleyways before we got there. I looked down them, preparing to protect Tumblebrutus from any misfortune. There were some black cats, looking almost like some of Macavity's more vicious cats. "They're down there," Tumblebrutus said, pointing down an alleyway. I looked down the deserted alleyway and saw Plato and Pouncival sitting up on a wall.

"Why didn't you get them?" I asked him. He shrugged, and I rolled my eyes. Carefully picking my way through the open boxes of rubbish, I made my way through the alleyway. I jumped onto a wooden crate and prepared to jump onto another one, when I heard a loud cracking noise from under my feet. I went to jump off of the crate, yet it broke from under my feet and I fell into a can of bright pink paint. I tried to pull myself out, yet my paws slipped on the edge of the can and I fell back inside the paint. Now, completely covered in paint, I tipped the can and crate over and stepped out. The other toms were standing by a wall laughing at me.

"Did you see that look on his face?"

"That worked like a charm."

"You were right, Tumble. He completely fell for it," Pouncival said. I hissed at them softly, not believing that this whole thing was a total setup. They stood there, laughing at my misfortune as I was shaking with anger. I straightened up and glared at them. I could feel that Bast-damned power welling up inside me. As if through a fog, I felt my paw lift up and point at Pouncival. Still in that fog, I released a bolt of invisible lightning straight at Pouncival's chest. He cried out and dropped to the ground. The fog in my mind lifted and I looked at what I did.

"Pounce? What happened?" Tumblebrutus said, shaking Pouncival. "Pounce? Pounce! Wake up Pounce!" Plato looked around, searching for the source. I stepped up to them, and looked at Pouncival's motionless body.

"Tumblebrutus, go home. Plato, you too. I'll bring Pouncival back to the junkyard. You tell them that I'm coming," I told them. Tumble looked at Plato and nodded. They ran off towards the junkyard, and I stooped down and felt for Pouncival's pulse. It was still there, thankfully, and so I looked around for something to have caused this. There were some exposed wires, so I didn't need to do anything to create a false reason as to his unconsciousness. I picked Pouncival up and started running towards the junkyard. It was hard going, yet I knew I deserved every ache and pain that it was causing me. If Pouncival died, then it would be my fault. All my fault.

"Quaxo! Quaxo, over here," the cat that had taken care of me and Ria when we first got here said. I walked over to her, straining under Pouncival's weight. "Did you see what happened?" she asked me. I shook my head.

"I didn't see what happened. All I saw was him collapsing," I told her.

"Well then, that's a problem. All I can hope for is that he's not got some sort of disease," she said. "In here," she added when she walked into a den. I followed her in and set Pouncival down carefully on a bed. "Thank you for bringing Pounce back home. I know he's not the lightest." I nodded and stepped out of the den and walked outside and sat on the car. I put my head in my paws and sighed.

"What's wrong Xo?" Ria asked me. I looked up at her.

"Not here," I whispered. There were a few cats around that were talking to each other, and I didn't want to be overheard. She nodded and we walked off toward my den. I looked back and saw Tugger following us, yet I didn't say anything.

"Misto, what happened to Pounce? Tumble and Plato don't know anything," Tugger said when we got into my den. Ria looked at me questioningly when Tugger called me Misto, yet I shook my head.

"He knows, Ria. I told him when we first got here," I told her softly as I sat down and hung my head in my paws again.

"Misto, it's not your fault, whatever happened," Ria said, sitting down beside me.

"No, no, no. It's all my fault. All my fault," I said.

"Misto, why don't you tell us what happened, from the beginning, and tell us why you're pink," Tugger said. I down at my fur, noticing that it was still pink, and looked back up at Tugger.

"Well, I woke up and went looking for Tumblebrutus and company, like I told Ria. I found Tumblebrutus and he led me to an alley. Plato and Pouncival were waiting there on a wall and I went to go tag them. I stepped on a crate, it broke and I fell into a can of pink paint. It turns out that they set the whole thing up, and I got mad. Something snapped inside me and, and…" I couldn't bring myself to finish. I couldn't bring myself to admit what I had done.

"And what?" Tugger asked. Ria looked shocked.

"You didn't, Misto," she said. When I didn't say anything she backed away quickly. "Mistofelees! How could you?"

"Could he what? What did he do?" Tugger asked, frantically looking between Ria and me.

"He shot lightning at Pounce," Ria said softly. "How could you?"

"I don't know. I wasn't thinking right. If I would have shot anyone, I would have shot Tumblebrutus instead. I didn't want to though. I didn't mean to." I said the last part over and over again. Ria pulled me close, giving me a tight hug. I was shaking back and forth.

"He can shoot lightning?" Tugger asked. Ria nodded. "Yet I thought if he was Quaxo, he can't use his powers. That was why he was called Quaxo in the first place."

"Not anymore, it seems," I said softly as I pulled away from Ria. "It's been getting more and more unpredictable. It's getting more and more like _him_. It's why I ran away earlier."

"And you've just let this run wild? You could kill someone!" Tugger said. I stood up suddenly.

"No! I've not let this run wild! And you think I like this? You think I like having the ability to kill someone with a mere thought?" I asked him.

"Calm down, Misto. You don't want to hurt someone," Ria said. I took a deep breath, nodded and sat back down.

"It's the only part of my powers that I seemed to have gotten from him. I have worked all my life to control it, and hone my other powers, yet it's been getting harder lately. I hate this part of me, yet I can't do anything about it. If I could get rid of it, trust me, I would have long ago," I said in a calmer voice.

"So then, what does this mean for Pounce?" he asked me.

"It depends on whether or not I really wanted him dead," I said.

"And that means?"

"When Misto launches a bolt, it follows exactly what he wants it to at the moment he launches it. So, if he wanted to kill Pounce, Pounce will be dead within the night. Right now though, Misto doesn't remember what he wanted the lightning to do, so he's beating himself up about it," Ria told Tugger.

"How does she know so much about your powers, Misto?" Tugger asked me.

"She's the one who's allowed me to hone these powers because she would call me Mistofelees. She knows my powers nearly as well as I do," I told him. Tugger nodded, obviously trying to absorb it all.

"So, what do we do now?" Tugger asked me. I shrugged; even I didn't really know how long the effects would last for Pounce.

"Now, we wait," I told him.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Due to the fact that I've been threatened about the ending of that last chapter, I've decided to post this chapter up. Macallla and Ryin threatened me with Macavity, and since I don't really like him, I've decided to post this chapter now, rather than tomorrow like I had planned. Nothing much really happens in this chapter, and so this'll probably be pretty much a filler. Have fun reading this (pathetic, the way I see it) chapter, review it afterwards and I'll get the next (better) chapter up soon. **

We sat there in my den for a while. I'm not exactly sure how long Ria, Tugger and I sat there, yet I knew it was a while. I could tell that I was getting restless, so I stood up and made my way towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Ria asked me, breaking the silence. I shrugged.

"I'm not sure. I think I'm going to go check on Pouncival," I replied. She nodded, and I dropped down to the ground. I walked slowly to the courtyard, still wondering if I wanted to actually figure out what was happening to Pouncival. I needed to tom up and face the consequences of my actions, though, so I continued to walk to where Pouncival was being kept. I ducked inside the den he was laying in. The nurse-queen (I still didn't know her name, and it was starting to get on my nerves) was sitting, asleep, beside Pouncival's motionless body. I walked up to him, placed a paw on his cold head, and sighed. He was still alive, yet just barely. I figured that he would be dead by nightfall, no matter what I did. I couldn't believe that I had let go of my emotions and let this happen. I took a shaky breath and sat down.

"Quaxo, what are you doing here?" she asked me.

"I wanted to see how he was doing. I still feel responsible for this happening. I'm the oldest, and I shouldn't have let them do that. I noticed some wires that were sparking, and he was sitting in the same puddle of water as the wires. He might have gotten shocked from that," I told her.

"Really? Electrocution? Maybe, yet I can't do anything about that. It'll mean just waiting. In the meantime, I'm Jennyanydots. Jenny, usually. I'm Pounce's mom," she said.

"It's nice to meet you again," I said. "I'll just leave you here." She nodded wearily and motioned for me to go. I stepped out of the den and went to sit on the TSE1. The sky grew lighter as the sun grew higher and the day wore on. I was about to nod off on the pleasantly warm car when a cat with a long brown tail sat down next to me.

"Hello, kit. You're Quaxo, right?" he asked me. I nodded. "I'm Skimbleshanks."

"It's nice to meet you," I told him. "Do you have any idea why no one's around?"

"They're probably all worried about Pouncival. I wanted to thank you for bringing Pouncival back here. I don't know what would have happened to my family if the baby of the family wasn't back," Skimbleshanks said sadly.

"Who's in your family?" I asked him, sitting up and looking over at him.

"Jennyanydots is my mate. Plato's the oldest, then Tumblebrutus, Etcetera and Pouncival," Skimbleshanks replied, counting off on his paw. I nodded, and then thought back to what Ria had said.

"What about Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer?" I asked him. "Aren't they yours?" He looked up at the clouds passing over us and sighed deeply.

"Mungojerrie's older than Plato, and Rumpleteazer is in between Tumble and Etccy," he said slowly, as if he was wondering if he should tell me or not.

"Yet why don't you count them?" I asked him.

"I—they were a mistake. I never meant to have them," Skimbleshanks told me. He slid off of the car, looked at the hood of the trunk and back up at me. "Hey, I'll tell you a secret."

"Yes? What is this secret?" I asked as I leaned close to him.

"If you hit this hood just right, the trunk will open up," he said. I sighed and nodded.

"I know that. You just press the latch. Everyone knows that," I said, leaning back. Skimbleshanks sighed, and motioned for me to get off of the hood. I rolled my eyes and slid off of the hood as he climbed on.

"Now if you just press here," he pressed the center of the hood and it opened up. I looked up at him, surprised that he could figure something like that out. "I used that little trick to surprise the queens back when I was your age." I smiled and sat back up on the trunk.

"Neat trick," I told him. He nodded and looked at me.

"Who was your mother?" he asked me. I looked down at my paws, debating whether or not I should answer truthfully.

"Triana," I said, siding with truth. Skimbleshanks nodded slowly, his eyes closed.

"I remember her. She left the junkyard long ago, when she was barely old enough to take care of herself," Skimbleshanks said softly.

"She lived here?" I asked. "She never mentioned the junkyard."

"She probably didn't want to remember it more than she needed to. She always felt guilty about leaving us," Skimbleshanks said. "I was wondering, though, if you knew that the Jellicle Ball was coming up next month. And if you were planning on taking anyone, or mating anyone." I shook my head.

"Not as of now Skimb—" I was cut off by Jennyanydots running into the courtyard.

"Skimble, Quaxo! Pounce's awake!" Jennyanydots said. Skimbleshanks and I looked at each other before running into the den.

"Hey there, son," Skimbleshanks said as he patted Pouncival's head.

"Hey there, Dad. Hey there, Quaxo," Pouncival said weakly. I smiled when he addressed me.

"How are you feeling?" I asked him.

"Fine. Tired, I guess," he replied. "How come you're still pink?" I looked down at my fur, which was starting to dry and get matted, and was still bright pink.

"I thought it made me look cooler," I told him. Pouncival smiled. I went to walk out of the den, when I turned back and told him, "Oh, and no matter how good you feel tomorrow, or tonight, don't get up. Just eat, sleep and drink for the next few days." Pouncival nodded and I ducked out of the den. Immediately after leaving the den I was engulfed in a mass of familiar fur. Jemima pulled back after a minute with a worried look on her face.

"How's Pounce? My whole family's worried sick about him," she asked me.

"He'll be fine," I said. "He just needs a bit of rest." Jemima sighed a sigh of relief and looked at me more carefully.

"Why are you pink?" she asked me. I laughed and looked at her.

"Long story. Do you mind helping me find some way to get it off?" I asked her. She smiled sweetly and took my paw.

"I'll take you to my human's place. They like cats," she told me as she led me out of the junkyard.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: I love all the reviews. I was looking at my story earlier, and realized that I had 41 reviews. 41! The next highest number of reviews for one of my stories is a pathetic 6, so I want to thank my loyal reviewers who made that happen. Now, finally, I have Misto actually acknowledging his like of Jemima (and I want to thank Don't know Don't care 38 for giving me the idea). And yes, I am conscience that I shall be called evil and the like with this chapter, and I've been sure to take precautions against Macavity, though that meant that I had to take down my precautions for other villains…oh well, to prevent those threats from happening. Next chapter will probably be next week, just to let you know. Enjoy, read, and review. **

Jemima led me out of the junkyard and down a city street that was lined by large, Victorian houses of various colors. The street was deserted, even of cats, probably because it was the middle of the day and humans had better things to do than to lounge about in the warm sun. Jemima smiled as she led me down the street.

"My humans are just a few houses down, where that car is parked," Jemima said.

"Thank you for helping me out," I said. She nodded and continued to lead me down the street. There was a break in the hedges on the right and she led me down a small path to a white Victorian with black trim and paused.

"Kay, I've been thinking this over, and I think the best way for you to get help is to act like a pitiful, cute kitty-cat while I go through the back and beg to be let out of the front door. My human will be there and will see you and will be compelled to help such a cute cat," Jemima told me. I nodded and she walked towards the back of the house before I realized that she had called me cute. I didn't know whether or not that as truth, considering I was bright pink, yet it made me feel good regardless. I started acting all cute and kitty-like. After a few minutes I heard Jemima mewing at the door and a human's heavy footsteps walking towards it.

"What is it Pierce?" the human said as she opened the door. "They—oh, look! A cute kitty cat! I'll just bring him inside and give him a nice, warm bath. I'll love him, and he'll be best friends with Westerfeld and I'll call him Dekker." She picked me up around my middle and, as I gave a cry of protest, took me to her kitchen sink. She filled the metal sink with warm, flowery-smelling, bubbly water. I tried to step away from it, yet she picked me up and dropped me into the water. She was surprisingly delicate though, with cleaning my fur though. After a half-hour and several refillings of the sink, my fur was back to its usual black and white hue. The human pulled me out of the sink and pulled a fluffy white towel out of a drawer and started rubbing me with it. She stepped back and walked out of the kitchen and I looked down at me. Yes, I was back to my normal hue, yet I was a complete fuzzball.

"I'll be back in a minute with Westerfeld. Peirce is already here," the human said just before she stepped out of the kitchen.

"Hey there, fuzzy," Jemima said as she jumped up onto the counter with me.

"Hey there Jem," I said, as I started to lick my fur to get it to lay down flat.

"Let me help with that," she said as she started to help my get my fur to lay down flat. "Do you like me, Quaxo? You called me Jem, and you never call anyone by a nickname unless you're close to them." I paused mid-lick, and looked up at her.

"Yes," I told her. "I like you a lot. I was going to ask your dad tonight if I could start dating you, actually. I didn't want to go around him, considering he is the Jellicle protector and all." Jem smiled and nodded.

"I'd like that," she said with a small smile. "Are you going to stay here?"

"It depends on who Westerfeld is," I replied.

"I am," a voice said from behind me. I turned around and saw that same Jellicle Protector standing there, watching me get close to his only daughter. I backed up, forgetting how close I was to the edge, fell off and barely landed on my feet.

"Munkustrap! How are you today?" I asked him. Munkustrap narrowed his eyes at my pathetic attempt at conversation. "I was just leaving. Have a nice day," I said, bolting out of the house like the Hound of the Baskervilles was after me himself.

A mere five minutes later (a personal record if I remember correctly) I was walking past Alonzo and down towards my den. I couldn't decide if I was elated or fuming about the last afternoon. Who knew if I were going to get another chance like that with Jem? And, to make things worse, as I walked into my den, I saw that Tugger was sitting there with Ria, waiting for me.

"Where've you been?" Tugger asked me as he stood up.

"Around," I replied, purposely vague, as I sat down next to Ria. She stirred in her sleep and cuddled closer to me in her sleep. She stayed asleep for a few more minutes as Tugger stared me down, trying to pry more information from me, yet she ended up waking up.

"Hey, Xo," she said groggily. "How's Pounce?"

"He'll be back to normal in a few days. He ended waking up shortly after I left," I replied. Ria looked outside and back at me.

"Yet it's dark now. Where have you been?" Tugger asked me.

"I was at a pleasant white and black Victorian house," I replied.

"A human house? Yet you swore that you would never be a human's cat," Ria said.

"Yes, a human's house. I was getting the paint off. I'm still not a human's cat," I told her. Tugger nodded slowly and turned back to me.

"Isn't that Munk's place though?" he asked me. I nodded and looked back over my fur, making sure that all of that pink paint was off.

"You went with Jemima, didn't you?" Ria asked. I shrugged, not looking at them in an effort to hide the grin that had spread across my face.

"Ooo, isn't that a little serious for you two?" Tugger asked me.

"We didn't do anything!" I said, defensive. "Munkustrap ensured that," I added softly.

"I can't believe that Munkustrap would do that. You still could have had some fun with her," Tugger said.

"Well, I'm sorry for not wanting to see my entrails. I'm pretty sure that Munkustrap would kill me if I did anything with Jemima that he didn't approve of," I replied.

"Seriously though, are you ever going to ask her out? You can't just leave a queen hanging," Tugger said.

"True. And I've heard rumors that she's going to dance the mating dance this year," Ria told me. I looked up.

"The mating dance? Yet…yet…" I sputtered. Ria smiled. She was joking. "That wasn't very nice, Ria."

"It was funny though. It just proves to you that you need to ask her out," Ria told me. I nodded.

"I was going to ask her dad tonight. I think he's going to patrol tonight, so he should be here. If not, I'll just head to his place and ask. I told Jemima that I would approach her dad about it tonight, anyway," I replied.

"Just so long as you have a date with Jemima before the day's out," Tugger said as he and Ria followed me out of the den. They walked towards the courtyard though, when I had gone on past to the front entrance. I was just passing a large mountain of trash, when I heard a metal scream. I looked up, not expecting much, when I saw a large metal spike falling towards me and a brown tail—that looked almost like Skimbleshanks'—flicking out of sight. My mind working fast, I tried to jump out of the way until I heard a sickening squelch and thud as the spike slid through my body and lodged itself in the dirt ground. I tried to pull away, yet it caused me unbelievable pain and caused the hole to bleed more. My eyes rolled back in my skull, and I fought off the blanket of darkness that was threatening to overtake me.

"Munkustrap! Munk! Tugger! Alonzo!" I screamed, desperate for someone to come and help me. I continued screaming until I was hoarse, and even then, I continued screaming. Finally, when I couldn't physically say anything more, my eyes slid shut and I made a silent, hopefully telepathic, plea to Jemima.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: I got the chapter up! Which means that Misto's alive. I almost was going to make you wait longer, yet I want to get to the musical sooner, so you get the chapter today. I've even got the chapter after this mostly written up, so you might get it Thursday. Maybe even Wednesday. You'll also be very proud of me, because Misto doesn't get hurt at all in this chapter. Mostly. Anyways, read, review, I don't own Cats, blah, blah, blah, and here's the chapter.**

I woke up in a bright, white room in a small metal cage. I looked around and went to stand up when a male human walked over to me and picked me up.

"Careful now, you don't want to get banged up again," he said softly as he looked at me. I sat there calmly as he poked and prodded me, yet I winced and cried out softly as he started poking at my side. "You're one lucky cat. You were nearly dead when you were brought here," he said. He nodded after a couple more pokes and set me back in the cage. He walked off to the side of the room and started talking to a woman about me, I assumed. They were talking about "fixing" me and the woman slapped the man. She walked over to me, picked the cage I was in up, and stormed out of the office. Walking over to a bright red convertible, she set me down in the passenger seat and slammed the car door shut.

"You're lucky Westerfeld found you. Maybe I should call you Lucky rather than Dekker," she said. I groaned. I would not be named a Pollicle name, even though I did plan on ditching this human as soon as she opened this cage. "I won't though, because I much prefer Dekker. I still can't believe that he wanted to fix you. That's just unethical. What would he think if some random doctor just fixed him?" She continued muttering like this for a few minutes until we came up on Jemima and Munkustrap's white and black Victorian house. She opened the car door, picked me up and opened the front door.

"Here you are," she said as she set my cage down and opened it up. Immediately, I bolted out of the cage, through the kitchen and out the back door without looking back.

"Watch where you're going ca—" Jem said. I had run directly into her in my haste to get away from that human. She looked at me with wide eyes and gave me a huge, rib-cracking hug.

"Ow! Watch the side," I said, pulling away even though I didn't really want to. "I barely got back from the vet."

"Sorry, yet when Munk found you, you were already unconscience and nearly dead. I've been so worried about you. Ria's been sick and Tugger's been a lot less upbeat than usual. I've missed your smile," Jem said. I smiled for her, and she grinned with me. Her grin faded after a moment and she opened her mouth to speak. "Quaxo, I could have sworn I had heard you scream my name, yet when I sent Munk to find you, you had been unconscious for a while. Do you have any idea how?"

"No. I don't," I replied. And it was truth also, because I was Quaxo, not Mistofelees, and thus couldn't use my powers. "I'm going to tell everyone at the junkyard that I'm back." She nodded and I started walking as fast as I could to the junkyard. Nothing much happened on the way to the junkyard, much to my relief. Finally, after walking block after block with my side throbbing badly, I saw the entrance to the junkyard with Alonzo and Munkustrap sitting on the posts that bordered it.

"Quaxo's back!" Alonzo shouted when I reached them. Munkustrap and he jumped down from the posts and patted me on the shoulder. "How're you feeling, Quaxo?" Alonzo asked me. I shrugged.

"I'm fine. My side's throbbing and I just got attacked by Munkustrap's daughter, yet I'm alive," I said. Alonzo smiled and nodded.

"Lon, do you think you could check out the other entrance?" Munkustrap asked Alonzo.

"No prob. See you later, Quaxo," Alonzo said, waving. Munkustrap waited for a moment and then turned to me. I looked up at him, slightly scared, and took a step back.

"So…I assume that you want to start dating Jemima," Munkustrap said.

"Yes sir. I was going to ask you, yet…" I trailed off. "Anyways, I wanted to ask you because I didn't want to go behind you back. I also wanted your permission, because I really like her—"

"And you think you might want to mate with her? Quaxo, you're young, and who knows if another queen will come by?" Munkustrap said.

"I know, which is why I won't tell Jemima about that at all. I just didn't really want to get gutted by you later," I said. Munkustrap nodded.

"I understand. I like how you came and asked me. You may date Jemima, just don't disappoint me," Munkustrap said. I nodded, fighting hard to keep a straight face.

"Thank you, sir," I said ask I started to walk off. I took a step and turned back to face Munkustrap. "And thank you for saving my life." He nodded and turned back to look at the street. I turned also, and walked down the now-familiar path to the courtyard. There, I saw the kits talking quietly at one side, and Ria sitting next to Plato on the TSE1, tears staining her perfect white face, as Plato nuzzled her. I walked up to them and lightly tapped Ria's shoulder.

"Xo?" She asked as she looked up at me and wiped her tears away. I smiled and nodded, and she gave me a hug, being sure to mind my side. "Everlasting Cat! Quaxo, you've been gone for days. Tugger and Jemima and everyone's been really worried about you."

"I heard. At least I'm better now, though," I told her. She nodded and gave me a squeeze. "Except I'm not completely whole yet," I said, gasping. Ria smiled apologetically and stepped back.

"I'm going to go tell everyone," she said. I nodded and she ran off, leaving me with Plato. He crossed his arms and glared at me.

"So you're still alive?" he asked me. I nodded and glared back at him.

"Yes. It's not like I could go to Heavyside without going to my first Ball or see Ria get mated," I said.

"Do you really want those mundane things? It's not like they matter," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"If the mundane things don't matter, than what does? Even if you only have exceptional things in life, then they will turn mundane, and we go back to my previous statement. Gotta stop and smell the roses sometime, Plato," I told him. Plato opened his mouth to retort, yet he shook his head and walked off. I watched him walk off, almost thinking that something was wrong about him, and I turned to go find Tugger.

"Quaxo! You're back," Demeter said as she walked up to me. She went to hug me, yet I stepped back and held my hand up.

"Please, no more hugs. I don't think that my side can ta—" I cut myself off as I gasped in pain. Apparently no one here understood that getting impaled hurts for a while afterwards. My side now was shooting daggers through my body, and I clawed my way out of the hug. Turning around, I saw that none other than Bombalurina had given me the hug.

"It's so nice to see you awake. Everyone, especially the kits, have been subdued since you got hurt. Even Tugger doesn't want to have fun with me," Bombalurina said.

"They must really care about me then," I said softly, shaking my head.

"Quaxo, you're a Jellicle. Get that through your skull. We care about each other, and don't like it when we get hurt," Demeter said. I nodded, closed my eyes and tried to absorb that fact, permanently.

"Do you know where Tugger is, Bombalurina? I'd like to let him know I'm back if he's been so downcast," I said. Bombalurina shook her head.

"No, he wasn't in his den when I checked, and I haven't seen him around," she replied. I nodded and walked off. I figured that if Bombalurina didn't know where Tugger was, then he was probably in my den, though I had no idea why he would be in there. I jumped up into the den, and saw Tugger laying spread-eagle on the floor, staring down at the ground.

"Tugger?" I said as I stepped into the den carefully.

"I must finally be dead. I'm hearing voices," he said, sounding bored. I rolled my eyes and walked over to him and started trying to roll him over so that he could see me.

"Get up stupid-head. You're not dead because I'm not in Heavyside. And I want an explanation as to why you're in my den and you've been denying Bombalurina," I said. Tugger sighed and turned over to face me.

"She's been too pushy. I've been in your den because I've been trying to get away from my fan club," he said, still sounding downcast.

"Okay, that's the last straw. What's wrong with you?" I asked. Tugger sighed and looked at me.

"You. First you electrocute Pounce, and then you go and get yourself impaled. Can't you live one day without doing something wrong?" Tugger said. I opened my mouth to retort, yet closed it again and shook my head.

"I've not lived a day in which something hasn't gone wrong somehow. Especially lately. Hopefully my date with Jemima will go well," I said softly as I sat down next to him.

"Date?" Tugger asked.

"Yep. I'm going to ask Jemima out in a few minutes. I just thought I would make sure you know I'm alive, which turned out to be a good idea," I replied.

"Why are you still here then? Go ask her out!" Tugger said, pushing me out of the den. I turned and moved out of his arms.

"I was going to wait for a bit," I said, slightly apprehensive.

"Don't tell me you're scared," Tugger said, smiling slightly.

"I'm not, I just haven't asked a queen out before," I said.

"Now, Misto, let me tell you a secret. Come closer," he said motioning for me to come towards him. I took a step towards him, and leaned close to him. "The first time I asked a queen out, I tripped on my own tail, and ended up getting all mixed up. She slapped me because she thought I was insulting her."

"You're joking," I said, stepping back. Tugger shook his head sadly.

"Demeter never forgave me for it, also. She's the only cat who hasn't gone on a single date with me. Now, if I, the king of sexiness, has had queen-troubles, I don't think the world will end if Jemima rejects you. Yet I doubt that because she's crazy for you," Tugger said. I nodded, took a deep breath and walked out of the den to go to the courtyard. I made sure to look up for falling metal, yet luckily, nothing fell towards me. In the courtyard, Jemima was sitting with Ria and Etcetera on the TSE1. I waved to Ria, who saw me and tapped Jemima's shoulder. Jemima looked up from her paws and turned around to see me. Smiling, she walked over to me.

"Jemima, I, uh, I was wondering if, um, maybe, possibly, you would want to maybe, possibly go on a date with me tonight?" I asked, tripping over words. Jemima only smiled and nodded.

"I would love to, Quaxo. When do you want to meet?" she said.

"Sunset at the tire," I replied.

"Sounds good, Quaxo. I'll see you then," she said. She walked back to Ria and Etcetera and I sighed, glad that she had said yes.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Hey. I got a new chapter up. Yes, I am on a roll with not physically torturing Misto, just to let you guys know. This chapter is Jemima and Misto's date, which was hard to write. It might not seem like it would be hard, yet if you've never been on a date/in a relationship of any type, it's a bit hard to imagine what would go on. Oh well though. Also, to let you guys know, I really wanted Misto to get in a fight in this chapter, yet I figured you guys would kill me too badly for that, so I restrained. I'll probably end up posting the fight on my blog (hint, hint) if you want to see what it is. The url is on my profile, if you do. Also, I'm thinking that there are about four chapters left in this whole story. It'll be a bitersweet ending, yet I'll be glad that I've actually finished a multi-chapter story. I am thinking about having a sequel to this story though, so what do you guys think? Anyways, here's the chapter, read, review and all that jazz. **

I sat on the tire, my eyes drifting from my feet to the quickly descending sun, waiting impatiently for Jemima. She wasn't late, yet I was just excited, or exceedingly nervous, for our date. I had spent an hour making sure I looked nice for her, and I was a tom! So, I continued sitting on the tire, waiting for Jemima to appear. Finally, just as the sun started to touch the horizon, Jemima came strolling up to me.

"Hi, Jem," I said as I stood up.

"Hello, Quaxo. Where are we going?" Jemima asked me.

"It's a surprise. It's a favorite spot of mine, yet we do have to hurry," I said as I gently took her paw and we started walking. Jemima nodded, and followed me out of the junkyard. I loved the smile that she had on her face as she looked up at me.

"What?" she asked me. I shook my head.

"Nothing, I just really like being with you," I replied.

"I like being with you too, Quaxo." I despise that name even more now. Why I let Tugger talk me into using Quaxo rather than Mistofelees, I'll never know. I bet my name would sound pretty when she said it. My mind descended into fantasies as we continued walking to London's Eye.

"The Eye? You're taking me to the Eye?" Jemima asked as we approached the large Ferris wheel. "How are we going to get on?"

"I have a friend who can get us on. He lets me stay until about midnight. I wanted to bring you here to see the meteor shower," I said.

"That's nice," she said softly. I looked over at her.

"Do you not want to?" I asked her, stopping.

"No! No, I really like that you're bringing me here. I was just thinking about what my dad would think," Jemima said.

"I didn't think of that. Do you want to do something else?" I asked. Yes, I was probably over-doing with making sure that she wants to come with me, yet I wanted to make sure she actually wanted to.

"No, and I'm sure. We can do this," Jemima said. I smiled and we started walking down. We wove past the long line of humans and up to the front where you get onto the ride. I rubbed the ride operator's leg and he looked down at me.

"Looks like you got yourself a new friend. Go on in, Black," the man said in his heavy Scottish accent. I nodded—even though he wouldn't be able to tell—and led Jemima into one of the vehicles.

"Why does the cat get to go on?"

"Why can the cat go on and not my Rottweiler?"

"He didn't even wait in line!" I laughed at the humans complaining about me and Jemima, and she smiled. We walked in and Jemima sat on one of the seats. I jumped up and sat down next to her as we slowly continued moving.

"How did you know that human?" Jemima asked me as she rested her head on my shoulder.

"I've been coming here for as long as I can remember, and so that man learned to recognize me and he would start letting me onto the Eye," I told her, watching her reaction. She nodded slowly, and I held her paw in my mine.

"Is that why you won't stay with my human?" she asked. I shrugged.

"Partly. There's also the fact of us staying with your dad, and, no offence or anything, I just think that that could get slightly awkward," I replied. Jemima nodded.

"Why do you like me, Quaxo? Why did you ask me out rather than someone else?" Jemima asked me as she sat up and turned to me.

"You're pretty. I like your eyes, your voice, your fur. You're also really nice to everyone and I like that," I told her. She smiled her pretty smile, and rested her head on my shoulder as we started moving higher in the sky.

"Thank you," she said softly. "I almost thought that you asked me out simply because I was there," she said even softer. Suddenly she sat up and pointed. "There's a shooting star!" I followed her paw and saw a shooting star streaking across the sky. The orange and pink trail followed it so far that the shooting star touched nearly both sides of the horizon. _I wish that I could be myself around Jemima. I also wish, against the rules, that I wouldn't have to reveal my secrets to the Jellicles,_ I thought, knowingly going against the rules of one wish to one shooting star.

"Did you make a wish?" I asked her. She shook her head as she continued to watch the sky.

"I don't have anything to wish for. My life is perfect right now. I've got friends, a nice tom next to me, and I'm a Jellicle. What more do we need?" she said. I nodded and we started to watch the sky for the next shooting star.

It was about midnight now, and I knew that we were going to need to go soon. I tapped Jemima, who had fallen asleep on my shoulder, and she moved.

"Wake up, Jemima. We're going to need to go soon," I said. She yawned and nodded.

"I'm sorry I fell asleep. You must have been bored stiff," she said.

"No, it was nice to simply be around you," I told her as the door opened. We walked out, I rubbed the man's leg as a thank-you and we started walking down the street to the junkyard. I personally hoped that Jemima could make it back to the junkyard without me carrying her. It wasn't that she would be too heavy, yet it was just that I doubted I could carry her with my side still hurting.

"How much farther?" Jemima asked after she started to stumble and run into me.

"About a half-mile," I told her. Jemima groaned. "Do you want me to carry you?"

"Can you?" she asked, "I don't want you to strain your side."

"I don't want you to fall asleep on your feet though," I said. She nodded tiredly and I picked her up. She wrapped her arms around my neck and promptly fell asleep. I hoped even more so that no bad cats were around because now there would be absolutely no way for me to protect both Jemima and myself. Granted, I was probably paranoid about avoiding other cats, yet when you've seen some horrors performed by other cats you'd be paranoid also. We continued walking, and we were almost home free, when I heard a voice call out from behind me.

"Yo, cat! Ain't you one of those Jellicles?" a cat called from behind me. I shook my head and continued walking. "Yo! Cat! I'm talkin' to yah. Get back ovah her," the cat said. I rolled my eyes and continued walking. "You're not worth it. I was goin' tah tell yah what was goin' tah happen at the Ball. You're not worth it though." I shook my head and continued walking. Five minutes later, I made it to the junkyard and saw a very frantic Munkustrap pacing in the entrance to the junkyard.

"What happened to Jemima? Is she alright?" Munkustrap asked as he took her from my arms.

"Jemima's fine. Nothing happened, she just fell asleep. I didn't think to tell her that we wouldn't be back until late," I replied. Munkustrap nodded and I walked back to my den, limping slightly as my side twinged. Glad for a perfect day for once, I fell asleep with a smile on my face.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Ugh. This chapter is about a week late, and I have no clue how to start the next one. And I don't really like this chapter much. grrr. I don't think I did all that well on it. Definitly forced. To refresh your memory, the last chapter was Misto and Jemima's date. This one is pretty much just an intro to the Ball, even though it's about a week before the Ball actually happens. And just to let you guys know, there is a bit of language. Mungojerrie's back and, well, I was sort of awful to him. And Misto. Both of them. I was in a bit of a torturing mood with this chapter. The next chapter will be up next week at the earliest, and maybe later depending on whether or not I have four straight hours to work on the story. I've also decided on the name of the sequel to this story, which is ****Say That Again?**** There will be two more chapters in this story, and then in about a month, I'll start on the sequel. Maybe. I'll try to get it up pretty soon after this. Anyways, here's the next chapter, so read, review and all that jazz. **

"Tell me! Tell me!" Ria said as she started shaking me. I groaned, winced and grudgingly opened my eyes.

"Tell you what?" I asked as I sat up.

"Tell me about your date with Jemima!" Ria said. I nodded and glanced out to see what time it was. The sky was still dark and I groaned.

"Couldn't you have waited until _after_ sunrise?" I asked her as I turned back to fall asleep.

"No! Please, please, please tell me about your date," Ria said.

"Took her to the Eye, we watched the stars, and I brought her back home," I said as I started closing my eyes and I fell asleep.

"Okay, the sun is up!" Ria said as she started shaking me again. I sighed and rolled over.

"Victoria, I think he's still asleep. He _was_ out past midnight," I heard Tugger say. I opened my eyes, and stretched.

"What do you guys want?" I asked. "And just to let you know, I haven't had a full night's sleep for ages because you two keep waking me up"

"Well, Misto, we want details. You were out past midnight and you couldn't have had a completely innocent date," Tugger said as he sat in front of the entrance.

"Nothing happened. She did fall asleep half-way through the date, and I had to carry her back home, yet nothing happened," I said.

"You have to be lying. No tom your age could resist a queen when you're alone," Tugger said. I rolled my eyes.

"I'm not you Tugger. I don't really want a kit before I've mated," I replied. Tugger sighed and shook his huge mane.

"You'd be dead if you did that," Ria whispered in my ear. I smiled and nodded.

"And you're a terrible tom, Misto," Tugger said. "Anyways, Munk asked me to ask you if you realized that the ball was tomorrow." I looked at Ria and then back at Tugger.

"How long was I gone, Ria?" I asked her.

"About a week. It's why everyone was so surprised that you came back. We had thought you had died," Ria said. I sat back down and looked back at Tugger.

"Why didn't anyone think to tell me that?" I asked softly.

"Well, I thought you knew. Now I have to go take watch for the next week, because of you," Tugger said.

"I'm sorry. Is there anything else you wanted?" I asked him.

"Yes. I was also told to tell you the basics of the Ball," Tugger said. I motioned for him to continue. "Well, we start out with singing two traditional songs about Jellicle cats and our names. Then it's the Invitation, your solo. After that we sing songs about various Jellicles. Usually about five. Then there's the actual ball itself, where we dance and choose our mates, and have fun. Toms invite queens to be their mate, yet the queens choose to accept or not. That's the usual case, at least. After that, there are a few more songs until dawn, where Old D makes the Jellicle Choice."

"What do I do?" I asked him. Tugger shrugged.

"Sing the invitation and you've got a small duet with the Dancer," Tugger replied.

"Me!" Ria said.

"Dancer?" I asked.

"I have a dancing solo at the beginning of the ball! I'm so excited," Ria said.

"Cool," I said, rubbing Ria's head. "How are we supposed to know all these songs by next week?"

"It's instinctive. Don't worry about it," Tugger replied. "I'll see you later. I've got a hot date with Bomba in a few minutes." And with that, Tugger left.

"So," I looked over at Ria. "Since when were you the Dancer?"

"Well, I was pretty broken up over you getting hurt, so I went and started dancing. Old D saw me and announced that they finally had a Dancer," Ria said. I nodded and we stood up to go outside. I stopped in the entryway and looked down. "Yeah, and the Twins were looking for you. Tugger was supposed to mention that." I groaned and saw the Twins standing just below the entrance obviously waiting for me. I ducked back into the den and looked over at Ria. "You're not going to be able to avoid them forever."

"I know. I'll go see what they want," I said. Ria nodded and I jumped out of the den, landing just behind them. They turned around and looked at me. Tantomile glanced at her brother and poked him slightly. Coricopat glared at her and looked back at me.

"Quaxo," he said. "I…am sorry. About doubting you, I mean. I made Tanto think you were bad, so even when we both attacked you it was my fault, and I'm sorry." I could tell that he was having a hard time admitting that he was sorry.

"And I am sorry for encouraging my brother. We hope you can find it in yourself to forgive us," Tantomile said.

"It's okay, I guess. It gets hard thought when you're trying to get over a bad past and you've got cats questioning your motives," I said coolly. If they thought that I could just forgive them, they were sadly mistaken.

"Thank you. We also blocked the worse memories from Victoria's mind," they said in unison. I nodded, and walked off, glad that they might be off my back for a while. Ria followed behind me.

"Quaxo!" Jemima said, giving me a hug.

"Hi Jem," I replied.

"I was just coming over to tell you that I really liked our date last night. And I really appreciated you carrying me back, despite your side," she said. Now that she mentioned it, my side was pretty sore.

"My pleasure, Jem. I'm just glad you liked it."

"Now there wouldn't be a chance for another date before the ball, would there?"

"Is there something you want to go do?" I asked her slowly. In truth, I hadn't planned on a second date, considering I thought that she wouldn't have liked the first one.

"Well, there is the faire along the river. They always give out a fish or two to us cats," she said, almost hesitantly.

"Tomorrow?" I asked her.

"It's going to be great! I'll show you all of my favorite spots," she replied happily.

"I'm excited. I'll see you tomorrow then," I said. She nodded and walked off towards Etcetera and Ria. I looked around and saw a familiar cat friend of mine. Jerrie lifted his head above the pile of trash he was hiding behind and motioned for me to come over to him. I looked over my shoulder, making sure no one was watching me, and went over to him.

"'Ello there, Xo. Oi 'ave some bad news an' some good news. Which do you wan'?" Jerrie asked me softly. I looked around and back at him.

"Bad news first. You know me, Jerrie. Always the bad first," I said.

"Oi figured as much, ye' I wan'ed to make sure firs'" Jerrie said, also looking around. "The bad news is that you've got a bounty on your 'ead."

"A bounty? On my head?" I asked him, slightly disbelieving.

"Yeah. Oi saw one of HP's 'enchcats who told me that the reward is tha' they get HP's daugh'er to do with as they wish," Jerrie said.

"Daughter?" I asked, briefly forgetting about Ria. Jerrie looked at me, giving me a disbelieving look. "Sorry, Ria. Ria's going to get raped again."

"Yeah. An' HP's got all of 'is cats out lookin' for you. 'E's goin' to force you ou' in the open soon. Or force you to give yourself up. I've even 'eard that HP knows where you are," Jerrie said, even softer than earlier.

"Jerrie, I'm only going to say this once, so pay attention. HP's name is Macavity, the _Hidden Paw_. He has spies _all_ over the city. He prolly knows where I am," I said slowly.

"Oi'm sorry, yet Oi'm not an idiot. It's not like Oi've not thought of that," Jerrie whispered angrily. "Oi jus' thought that you would 'ave covered your tracks! You were taught be'er than to leave stray ends!"

"There is no catly way possible for me to cover all of my tracks," I said softly.

"Yeah. Oi guess that you've forgotten your roots now that you've got a queenfrien'. You used to do anything to protect Ria, and now you aren't. Wha' 'appened?" Jerrie said.

"Nothing! She just needs to start relying on Plato to protect her. They're going to be mated at the next ball," I said.

"You're barely 'ere a month, and she's already ge'ing mated," Jerrie said, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry. I don't like Plato much, considering he turned me pink," I said.

"Pink?" Jerrie asked, taken aback. "You hate pink."

"Yes pink. Is there anything else you wanted?" I asked him.

"All Oi wanted to tell you was to clean up your tracks, Xo, and now you've ruined my visit," Jerrie said.

"Well then fine," I said, walking away. "I'll start cleaning my tracks up now." I heard Jerrie stand up behind me and start walking towards me.

"Oh, so _now_, you want to start cleaning up your tracks?" I heard Jerrie say.

"I'm sorry I'm worried about Jemima and the other Jellicles," I replied, turning around. "It's not like you would understand."

"You think Oi don' care about anyone?" Jerrie nearly shouted.

"Why else would you do this? You only care about one person, and you don't even tell her all about yourself," I told him. Jerrie tensed; I had obviously hit a sore spot with him.

"You think you're so special, don' you? Jus' because you're HP's only son, yet 'e 'ates you. You don' even 'ave powers!" Jerrie whispered.

"You don't know the first thing about me. If I'm found out, HP will kill me, and all the Jellicles," I said.

"Then leave!"

"I can't!" I shouted. Jerrie cried out in frustration, and leapt at me. I looked over at Munkustrap, who had looked up when I shouted, as Jerrie started tearing at my ears and fur. I tried my hardest to fight back, yet he was my friend. I couldn't really hurt him, no matter what. It was getting painful, and I let loose a small bit of lightning. I was hoping that it was just enough to hurt, yet not enough to do actual damage. I jumped off of him when his claws loosened up and watched as he rolled in the dirt, trying to stifle the pain.

"You fuckin' Pollicle bastard! I can' believe you! Go crawl back to tha' 'ell'ole you came from!" Jerrie shouted. I went to attack him again, not believing that he called me that. I felt a pair of paws, though, grab me out from the air and spin me away from Jerrie.

"Cool it, Quaxo," Tugger whispered in my ear. I took a couple of breaths, and pulled away from Tugger. I looked over at Jerrie, who was still glaring at me, and struggling in Munkustrap's arms. I shook my head slightly, inwardly mourning the loss of my friend, and started walking off towards my den.

"Quaxo, what happened with Jerrie?" Ria asked me as she started walking beside me.

"I don't want to talk about it," I said softly.

"Quaxo," Ria said as she stood in front of me. "You _will_ tell me what happened." I sighed and nodded.

"Jerrie thought it fit to warn me about what could happen if we're found by him. I told him I didn't need the warning, and he didn't like that. So he attacked me. I don't know why other than that," I told her, trying to sidestep around her.

"Quaxo, I will _not_ allow you to go hide in your den. Go back and have some fun with someone else. Today, not tomorrow or the next day. You have a date with Jemima tomorrow, and you can't be all depressed during it. Please, Quaxo, do this for me," Ria said, looking up at me. I closed my eyes, and nodded once.

"Of course. For you," I said softly as I turned back to the courtyard. Ria followed behind me and gave me a hug as I walked back.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Well readers, here's the next chapter. The next two/last two chapters are being edited, and so will be up on Thurs. Yep, you heard me right. Last two chapters. This story is almost finished and I must say, it's quite an accomplishment. Before I let you guys read the chapter, I have to give my thanks to two people: raptoregg64 and SummerRose12. Yes, I know more people reviewed the last chapter, yet after corresponding with them (that sounds really high-class...) I finally got off my mental block of actually finishing a story and I started writing these last chapters. Also, I agree that the last chapter wasn't the best. It was sort of a filler, giving a bit more reason for some of the musical actions. This chapter's also nearly a filler too, yet it's got a bit more plot to it. I just would like Misto to have a friend other than Tugger, Jerrie and his sister, so it's friendship time in this chapter. And it's also the start of the Ball. So, read, review, and all that jazz. **

"Hey, Quaxo, how do you know Jerrie?" Alonzo asked me when I walked back into the courtyard.

"Saw him around town. He'd nick food for me and Ria since our human never gave us any," I said absently, watching Munkustrap lead Jerrie out of the junkyard. Lying was getting easier for me anymore, and I wasn't really sure that I liked that.

"He was a friend? Or did you not like him much?" Alonzo continued.

"He was my best friend, other than Victoria," I said as I turned back to Alonzo. Alonzo nodded slightly and looked over at the queens who were dancing off by the TSE1.

"Hey, do you want to go play a trick on the queens? I've got some mud that I gathered from the stream yesterday. It's still wet, too," Alonzo said. I looked over at the queens, who had progressed to just sitting on the car and talking. There was a small ledge in a small hill of trash right above them that Alonzo and I were looking at.

"Sounds fun," I said. "Who wants to distract them?" Alonzo looked at me, and then back at the queens.

"They would never suspect that you were up to something, so go distract them about asking them for advice for your date or something like that," Alonzo said. I nodded and went to start distracting the queens as Alonzo went to go get his mud. This probably wasn't the nicest, yet it would be fun.

"Hey Bombaluina, what do queens like for a second date?" I asked her. Bombalurina looked over at Cassandra and Demeter before answering me.

"Well, we usually like a present of some sort. Maybe you could get her a flower or something," Demeter said.

"You could also give her some lip action," Bombalurina said. Demeter flashed Bombalurina with a murderous glare. "Or not?" she added, glancing over at Demeter. Demeter nodded, and leaned back. I nodded, and wondered where on earth Alonzo was. I flicked my eyes up to the platform where Alonzo was supposed to be waiting, and I saw him with a bucket of mud.

"Well, you've given me plenty of thought, so thanks, and I'll see you around," I said as I backed up quickly. Alonzo smiled, and turned the bucket over and the mud inside dumped all over Bombalurina. She wiped her eyes clean, flicked her paws and she looked up with a murderous look in her eye. Alonzo looked down, and, when he saw Bomba, ran away. I laughed and waved to the other two queens, who were sitting there in shock, and ran off as well.

"I must say, that's worked better than the other times I tried it. You're a natural, Quaxo," Alonzo said when I ran back to his den. I nodded, smiling.

"That was amazing, I must say," I told him. "I've not really ever done that."

"You've never pulled a prank?" Alonzo asked, leaning towards me. He had a disbelieving look on his face. I shrugged and shook my head. Alonzo sighed. "The look on Bomba's face was priceless though," he added.

"Yep. I personally liked the look on Demeter and Cassandra's face better though," I said.

"I didn't get a chance to see theirs. I ran away too fast," Alonzo said. I heard some yelling, sounding like Bombalurina herself, and I cocked my ear.

"I'm going to kill that sorry son of a gun! He better be praying to the Everlasting Cat for protection. I had a date tonight! Alonzo! Where are you?" Bombalurina yelled. Alonzo looked at me, a look of terror on his face.

"I didn't know she had a date tonight. I'll see you later, Quaxo," Alonzo said as he ran out a back door.

* * *

I spent the rest of the week hanging out with Alonzo or Victoria and her friends. It was pretty uneventful after the prank Alonzo and I pulled, considering we didn't want to get killed this close to the Ball.

As the day of the Jellicle ball dawned, you could feel a tension in the air as everyone got excited for that night. I, personally, was excited for the Invitation that I was singing, and I had even heard that Munkustrap was going to sing a song about me. I couldn't wait for it, and all the Jellicles were watching the sky to see when the Ball would start.

"The sun is setting! Places!" someone called out. The whisper carried through the crowd and we ran out of the courtyard and into our places.

"Quaxo, I'm going to be mating Plato tonight," Ria said when we had settled in our places. I looked over at her, realizing what she was saying, and I nodded.

"I figured you would be. I'll stand behind your decision," I said softly. I knew she would do this, especially after I saw her after I had gotten back from the vet. I just hoped that she would wait before she would start a family. Ria gave me a hug, a bright smile on her face, and we went back to watching the courtyard for the start of the Ball.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: So, here's the start of the Ball. It's also the second to last chapter. I wrote this as I was watching the musical, so it's pretty close to what happens. Yet, with that, I've got the danger of really horrible writing. I did spend about an hour editing it, so hopefully it's good. Anyways, this is the second to last chapter of this story, and it'll be over tomorrow. I hope you guys have liked it, yet still, read, review and all that jazz, please.**

Demeter stepped out of the shadows when the sky was dark and the moon had risen to make sure that it was all clear as Munkustrap followed behind her. The air seemed to gain the music playing in all of our heads as the ball started.

"Are you blind when you're born?" Munkustrap sang, starting the Ball. I was absorbed in my thoughts, wondering how the Jellicles would treat me when Victoria mated Plato. She was, after all, younger than me.

"The Pied Piper's assistant?" I sang as I leapt out of the shadows. I had almost missed my cue. Ria followed after me, joining in the dance that all of the Jellicles were dancing in unison. We moved into the pyramid as we continued the song. I somehow managed to be in the front of the pyramid. We were singing together beautifully, until a shoe fell and broke the spell briefly. After staring at it for a moment, we quickly got back into the swing of the song, singing a small hymn-like section and then starting another upbeat section. We danced, and sang, until Asparagus spotted a man. We looked over at the man in question. He had in incredulous face on. He obviously hadn't heard of Jellicle cats, or seen any, for that matter.

"What's a Jellicle Cat?" Munkustrap asked. We got back into another block as we started chanting about our three names. I was amazed that they used my name—that they knew—as one of the Jellicle names. As far as I could tell, it was a complete honor. We split off into three sections, and Ria was in a different section than I was. I didn't worry too much, after all, we were with friends and it was the Ball. We all disappeared and I waited for my cue in the pipe, as I watched Ria's ballet dance, that she so carefully choreographed. It was one of her best dances, and it matched the music perfectly. I ran out at my cue, and took a breath to sing the Jellicle Invitation.

"Jellicle cats come out tonight! Jellicles cats come one, come all! The Jellicle moon is shining bright; Jellicles come to the Jellicle Ball!" I sang, as I danced with Ria. It was a short dance, nothing spectacular, yet I liked it nonetheless. I rarely ever had the chance to dance with her. Munkustrap then came up as all the other cats reentered the courtyard and started to explain why we have the Jellicle Ball and the Jellicle Choice. As the music subtly switched to a different song and the other cats sat down, I remained standing, expecting that this would be my song.

"I have a Gumby cat in mind," Munkustrap said. I froze, and realized that it wasn't me. I sat down quickly, Etcetera comforting me slightly. I couldn't believe that I actually believe that Munkustrap would sing a song about me. Munkustrap looked over at me, after he had introduced the Gumby Cat, and I ran over to the car where Jennyanydots was waiting. I stood on it, and pressed it in the spot that Skimbleshanks showed me. Everyone marveled when it looked like I had done it by magic as I smiled, proud of what I did. When Jennyanydots came out, everyone else exited, waiting for their next cue. I didn't have a part until the next song, so I waited, secretly spying on the song. It looked fun, and I wondered where they got the mouse and cockroach costumes. I heard a ripping noise, and I looked over to see Tugger interrupting Jenny's song. I jumped up onto the car, just as Tugger kicked a ball towards me. I went to catch it, yet I missed it, and I stepped down and forward when it was my turn to say something about Tugger.

"The Rum Tum Tugger is a terrible bore," I sang, and I walked back off to the edge of the courtyard as I watched Tugger bask in the attention that everyone was giving him. He took this opportunity to hit on every queen, and get close to Bombalurina, even though he rejected her in the end. Even the music reflected Tugger's personality, sounding loud, and brassy. All the queens, and kits, were getting as close as they could to Tugger as possible to watch him swing his hips. As much as I was loathe to admit it, I actually liked his song. His song was interrupted also, though, by a grey cat that walked in. She looked hideous, yet she almost had that grace about her that suggested that she used to be quite beautiful. I sat on the tire, wondering who on earth this hideous cat was, having never seen her before.

"Remark, the cat, who hesitates towards you," she sang. Her voice was clear, and as I looked again at her, I realized that she must have been very beautiful at one point. Munkustrap took up a position in front of her, looking almost like he was protecting the tribe from her.

"She haunted many a low resort near a grimy road off Tottenham Court. She flitted about the no man's land from the 'Rising Sun' to the 'Friend at Hand.' And the postman sighed as he scratched his head, 'You really had thought she ought to be dead.' And who'd ever suppose that that was Grizabella, the Glamour Cat," Demeter sang. I took up a position behind Bombalurina, and joined in the song with a scathing tone. Then, to break us off of the sad vibe, the St. James' Street Cat turned up, bringing a happier song with him and I pointed him out to everyone. I found myself acting almost like a kitten around him and during his song, going to play with his tail as I crawled behind him and stood next to him as he sat, trying to pay attention to what he had to say. After I realized what I was doing and that I was acting completely kit-ish, I was determined to make a better impression. Bustopher went on to talk about what different food he would eat, making me feel hungry, and when he mentioned eating cabbage and rice pudding, I licked my lips. I was getting hungry just thinking about it. He leaned back, moving his feet in time with the music and almost fell over. I didn't notice it until Munkustrap went to help him. I helped him sit up also, and he started walking forward, almost falling down a small crack, and I helped him back onto his feet. At the end of his song, he gave the flower he had been carrying with him to Jennyanydots and there was a loud crash. We looked around, trying to figure out what it was.

"Macavity!" Demeter hissed. My eyes grew large, wondering how he could be here, and I ran off to hide. I hid in a box not far from the courtyard, and heard another song started, and I almost recognized a voice that was singing it. _No, it couldn't be,_ I thought. _It can't be Jerrie._ I continued listening to it, and realized that it was, in fact, Jerrie, and his sister. As usual, he was taking credit for all of their heists and successes. We jumped out, annoyed that they used the Macavity scare to sing a song about themselves, and kept them from running off. I put my paw out, barring Jerrie from running past me, and I almost could swear that he gave me a dirty look. After their song ended, I took a deep breath, and smelled something familiar. I got down to my knees, crawling towards the smell and took another deep breath. It smelled safe, almost like…

"Old Deuteronomy?" I asked, looking back at Munkustrap. Munkustrap looked over at the Twins for confirmation. They took a breath and nodded.

"I believe that it is Old Deuteronomy," Tantomile said. Munkustrap smiled and started to sing about Old Deuteronomy. I spotted him, and went to help him make his way towards the courtyard. I heard as Tugger joined in with Munkustrap to sing about their father. Other than his song earlier, I realized I hadn't really ever heard him sing, not to mention that I had never heard him sing—or really even talk—about someone other than himself.

"Jellicle cats meet once a year. On the night we make the Jellicle choice. Now that the Jellicle Leader is here, Jellicle cats can all rejoice!" Munkustrap said when his song with Tugger ended. The music suddenly switched, and we all ran off to wait for our next cue. "Of the Awful Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles, and the Intervention of the Great Rumpus Cat," Munkustrap announced. It was a common tale that mothers told their kits, and we were going to act it out. About half of the cats, mostly toms, put shoes and boxes on the head and paws. The other half put rags and boxes on their head and paws, dressed up as the Pekes. I was on the side of the Pollicles, so I had a shoe on my head and boxes on my paws. When he was supposed to, the Great Rumpus Cat jumped into the courtyard and Munkustrap continued the song, dancing with him. The other cats ran off, took our costumes off, and ran back in, having the flow of the music interrupted again as Tugger tried to play the ball-pipes, his version of the bagpipes. Needless to say, he didn't do all that well. Old Deuteronomy started to sing a small piece, yet there was another large crash.

"Macavity!" Demeter called again. Everyone hid again, and I hid behind Old Deuteronomy. He shooed me off, and I looked around before running off. Ria walked cautiously back into the courtyard, and I heard music continue.

"Jellicle cats come out tonight, Jellicle cats come one come all. The Jellicle Moon is shining bright, Jellicles come to the Jellicle Ball," I heard Old Deuteronomy sing. One by one, the cats slowly reappeared in the courtyard as we sang about what Jellicles were, what we were. We sang the lines for the Invitation again, as the actual ball started. We danced a short unison piece, and then I danced a small solo, starting the tag portion. Alonzo joined in with me, along with another tom, and we had a small standoff with Pouncival as Bombalurina looked at us from behind him. The dance broke off, and when Cassandra walked into the courtyard, Alonzo invited her to mate with him, and she accepted. Then it was the queens' turn for their dance, and the toms came up behind them for the partner dance. I then danced a small solo with Tumblebrutus, and then we all danced a sort of spinning dance. I couldn't bend all the way over, because of my side, yet I still tried. Ria broke off from the group as she started her invitation for Plato. The other cats, including myself, laid down and watched, resting for a moment, as Ria and Plato danced their Mating Dance. I gathered around them, watching them, and we rested there for a moment. I felt the Twins move, and I sat up, wondering who barged in on this private moment. I looked around, and saw Grizabella watching us. I gathered the cats up, and we started to dancing fiercely. There were four major groups in this dance, the queens, kits, flirts and the other cats. I didn't dace as much with this section, yet this part was the most fun. We all started dancing as hard as we could, to show Grizabella that she could never be a part of us, and it was amazing. It didn't really work, since she interrupted us again, yet I loved it. This time when she came out, rather than just act like she wasn't wanted, we tried to make her feel as horrible as possible, scratching at her and hitting her. Ria almost tried to touch her, yet Jellylorum held her back and we left Grizabella to her sorrow as we prepared for the rest of the night.


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: So, here's to the last chapter. Yes, this is the last chapter. I'll post another chapter telling you guys what the title of the sequel will be, yet other than that, this is the end. I'd like to thank you guys for all your support, and reviews and I'd encourage you to maybe possibly take a look at my other stories. This was a hard chapter to write, yet I hope I did well. Anyways, here's the second act of the musical and the last chapter. Enjoy, read, review, and all that jazz. **

We walked back into the courtyard, watching as the older Asparagus—who was usually known as Gus to us—walked in with Jellylorum, his mate, and listened as the music took on a more subdued tone. Old Deuteronomy started another song, that everyone paid close attention to. When Old Deuteronomy sang something, it was usually important. Most of the message went over my head though, yet I caught that it was something about happiness. I turned when I heard a pure voice singing. I saw that Jemima was singing. The rest of us, taking from Jemima's lead, started to sing as well, and we stood up in unison. We sat back down when Gus took center stage.

"Gus is the cat at the theatre door," Jellylorum sang as she started Gus' song. I sat down next to Ria by the TSE1. Gus started to sing about his career and what he could do. As he started to sing about his grandest creation, Fireforfiddle, I noticed something odd. In the corner of my eye, I could see a cat with glowing eyes, and a huge mane. My eyes grew wide, I tried looking at it head-on, yet it faded before I could. I returned my attention to Gus, and noticed it again. It was wearing a large trench coat. Gus saw it too, and went to greet it, yet it faded. I stirred slightly, not liking what had just happened, and started slightly as she song suddenly switched to an upbeat song about Skimbleshanks. I sat off to the side, watching his song, yet opting not joining in. I was still slightly shaken about how I could see Gus' memory of Fireforfiddle. I quickly got over it as I laughed about how the train that the cats had made broke apart. There was another loud crash, and I heard the bone-chilling laugh of my father's.

"Macavity!" Demeter called again. I resisted the urge to go over and slap her for saying something so obvious, as I saw my father come down and put a spell on the cats that prevented them from fighting him, and his henchcats put a net over Old Deuteronomy and stole him. I hid in the shadows, trying to prevent a scene between Macavity and myself. When Macavity left, and the spell broke, the cats hid and Munkustrap went to go find Old Deuteronomy. I went off to decide what to do, and Tugger followed closely behind me.

"Misto, did you know about that?" he asked me when we were out of earshot.

"No, otherwise I would have told you. We need to get going, I have a pretty good idea as to where Macavity is taking Old Deuteronomy," I said as I turned towards him. Tugger grimaced and glanced over at Demeter and Bombalurina, who were singing about Macavity.

"Can't you just make him appear here, like you did with that rock?" Tugger asked me. I looked up at him, gawking slightly.

"What?" I asked, not quite sure I had heard him right.

"Can't you just make him appear out of thin air?" Tugger asked again. I shook my head slowly. Tugger hissed and slammed me against the wall of a cabinet. "Listen Mistofelees! That's my father Macavity took from me! He didn't deserve that! I don't care if you might not be able to, just try! That's all I'm asking you! Just try you sorry excuse for a Jellicle!" I glared down at Tugger, and saw that, no matter how he tried to hide it, he was close to tears.

"Let me go, or else you will get a nasty shock," I said slowly. Tugger narrowed his eyes and let me down. I shook myself off slightly and looked down at the ground.

"Tugger, I was surprised that I didn't accidently make that rock appear in your brain. I rarely actually am able to make my magic work at all, considering I never really able to practice. I just don't want to let you down," I said softly. Tugger looked at me, and then over at where Jemima was dancing.

"Do you know what will happen when Macavity takes over?" Tugger asked softly.

"Tugger, please, of course I do. Macavity takes over, being sure not to kill Old Deuteronomy. Old Deuteronomy is then forced to watch as Macavity takes over the Junkyard and as he kills off any cats who go against him, which means Alonzo, Munkustrap, and most likely you. The queens will get raped. The kits will be killed. I know Tugger, I know," I said sadly.

"Then why don't you help? Please, Mistofelees," Tugger asked softly. I looked down at my coat, its glitter showing to the world my magic powers, and back up to Tugger. I nodded slowly.

"I'll try. Take the Jellicles to an alleyway that's about four streets east of here. I'll be waiting to make a flashy entrance. Just be sure to get everyone to start calling me Mistofelees. Everlasting Cat, help us all," I said as I started to walk away. "And Macavity's going to come attack again. That much I know."

I anxiously waited on a wire I had rigged to lower when I wanted it to, and watched as Tugger led the Jellicles below to the small alleyway I was waiting in. I took a deep breath as I started to wait for an appropriate time to enter.

"What is this about, Tugger?" Munkustrap asked him. "I could be off looking for our _father _rather than sitting here."

"Just please, listen to me, and don't scoff," Tugger said as he looked back at them. "All his inventions are off his own bat. There is no such cat in the metropolis…" He continued singing about me, mixing fact with fiction. After a few stanzas, I wanted to let him go on about how amazing I was, yet I didn't feel like making him sweat more. I came down on the wire, my coat in all its glittery glory, and I made the lights I had set up turn on as I said, "Presto!" As Tugger continued singing, I let loose a few bolts of lightning. It was just flashy lightning that wouldn't hurt anyone if they got in the way. I glanced back at Tugger, who shrugged, and I let loose another bolt. He continued to sing, and I pulled a yellow cup out of the air, and from that, pulled a ribbon out of it that wouldn't end. I danced around the small circle that the Jellicles had formed, and I gave the cup to Jemima, smiling slightly. Tugger ran out of lyrics, and in order to give him a chance to think of more, I danced for a moment. It was time for the trick everyone had come for, though, and I couldn't stall any more. I pulled a red sheet out of a small hole in the wall, and shook it out. The queens were all begging to be a part of my magic trick, and I was contemplating choosing Jemima, yet if I didn't get her back, I would be heartbroken, so I chose Cassandra instead. I hoped that I would be able to bring her back for Alonzo's sake. I placed the sheet over her, and walked her over to the center of the circle as I gently shook it. I glanced over at Tugger, hopeful for once that this would work. He gave me a thumb up, and I blew on my paws and waved them over the sheet. I took a deep breath, wishing desperately to see Old Deuteronomy under it, and I pulled the red sheet off the cat underneath. Old Deuteronomy stood up, and there was a gasp of surprise. I looked away, smiling as I looked down at my paws, and turned back to the cats when I heard Tugger say my name again. I ran over to Old Deuteronomy and leapt into his arms, so thankful that the Everlasting Cat had given me these powers. The rest of the Jellicles joined in on my song, and gathered around me. I pulled away from them, brought Cassandra out of the box that she was in, and danced how I saw Munkustrap dance earlier, when they were singing about what Jellicle Cats are. After a few minutes of my solo dance, I stood up on a small box.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, the Magical, Mystical, Mr. Mistofelees!" Tugger said as I jumped up and disappeared. I showed up in the junkyard, surprised that I could do that, and I waited for the rest of the Jellicles to get there.

"Mistofelees, who are you?" Munkustrap asked me. I stood up from the tire and looked over at him. He was the first Jellicle who had gotten back.

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

"You look nearly exactly like Quaxo, and you act a lot like him as well. Are you his brother or something?" he asked me. I took a deep breath and looked up at the moon.

"No. I only have a sister," I replied slowly. Munkustrap nodded.

"Same as Quaxo," he mused. I rolled my eyes and sighed heavily.

"Just put two and two together, will you? I am Quaxo! Quaxo is me! I just look normal when I'm called Quaxo! Bast, you're thicker than you look, Munk," I said. He pursed his lips as he looked at me.

"Then what's your Jellicle name?" he asked me. I shrugged.

"I'm not exactly sure. I'm the only cat to have been Quaxo, which leads me to think that that's my Jellicle name, yet I'm a magic cat when I'm called Mistofelees, so I don't know," I replied. Munkustrap nodded, and we heard everyone else come back.

Finally, just as the sun was nearly starting to rise, the Jellicles had gathered up, and Jemima sang once more. Munkustrap announced that Old Deuteronomy was going to make the Jellicle Choice and we gathered around him. There was a shift in the music though, and I straightened up and looked to see that Grizabella had interrupted us again. I went to go sit on the tire, refusing to even look at her. As she sang, there was such raw emotion in her voice that I ended up turning to look at her, feeling sorry for the poor creature. She collapsed on the ground, and I heard Jemima's pure voice ring out above the Junkyard. It seemed to reinvigorate Grizabella, and she stood up, and finished her song. I watched as Ria, hesitant as ever, stand up and approach Grizabella, taking her outstretched paw. I stepped down to Grizabella as well, and also took her paw. I trust my sister's judgment.

Old Deuteronomy nodded, and we understood that Grizabella was this year's Jellicle Choice. We watched as she ascended into the Heavyside Layer, and then Old Deuteronomy sang the closing song as the sun started to peak over the horizon. The rest of the Jellicles joined in at some parts, yet we mostly just danced to the song. And then, it was over.

It was an amazing night, and my life was utterly changed by it. I lost a part of my life, yet I was able to live my life as I should.

Thus Ends Tellall.


End file.
